My Fears
by CrimsonTrainer-4395
Summary: Just because they escaped, it doesn't mean that the threat is gone. A year had passed since their last meeting, and since then, tensions have built. Some want to prepare, while others do not wish to attract unwanted attention. Either way, these skeletons in Lilith's closet don't seem to keen on staying dead. Rated T for swears. Sequel to "My Shadows".
1. Chapter 1

**Well, would you look at that! I really am able to give sequels.**

 **Amy: Yeah, who'd a thunk?**

 **Erin: Well, technically, me and Miu.**

 **Amy: Do crossovers really count? Cause, in my book, they don't count.**

 **Erin: Yeah, just like you.**

 **Miu: C-can we not fight over something like this?**

 **Kuro: Nah fam, let them go at it. I haven't seen a decent fight since Zagan.**

 **Erin: Damn, I'll give ya a good fight, curb-stomping the water bender over here is just an added-on prize.**

 **Amy: Did you skip out on Pokemon tutorials? Cause, last I checked, water beats fire senseless.**

 **Me:...This is why you guys can't have playdates.**

 **Lilith: This is why those two don't have friends in general.**

 **Amy: Hey! I'll have you know, I've got a great nerd friend. All**

* * *

 _It was a cold night, with nothing but the wind whispering and the sound of running footsteps._

 _The figure breathed in the cold air, which didn't help as much as she thought it would, but, at the moment, that would have to do._

 _How long had she been running now? Half an hour, 45 minutes?_

 _Who knew at this point._

 _Another cold chill ran down her spine, as she ran harder and faster, clutching to her red hoodie for warmth, the only sight coming from her right eye, the left being covered by an eye patch._

 _She felt as if this were familiar, running, hiding, being a coward._

 _But one thing was for sure._

 _Something very big was different._

 _Suddenly, she skidded to a stop, looking over the cliff she'd nearly flung herself off of._

 _Cursing, she pulled out a small knife, knowing that it wouldn't do much to help her at the moment, "W-who's there?"_

 _"…My my, you don't sound to good."_

 _The girl growled, "I know who you are; leave!"_

 _A giggle sounded, as two eyes flashed from the darkness of the forest, wide with insanity, as her fingers enlarged into claws, "Oh, but big sister…"_

 _She gnashed her needle like teeth before jumping, pushing her down. She gave one last toothy smile._

 _"The fun has just begun."_

* * *

Lilith woke up with a cold sweat, jolting from her bed, gasping with her eyes wide. She covered her face, trying to calm down, only to fail.

She gasped, trying to breathe in as she fumbled for the sheets, pulling them over her shivering shoulders.

Even with the blanket over her, the cold shudders down her spine didn't stop.

She tried to stay in bed for a moment longer, looking to the clock to see that it was three in the morning, before shaking her head, getting out of bed. The longer she stayed put, the more the walls felt as if they were trying to lock her in, slowly squeezing her until there was nothing left to squeeze.

She had to get some fresh air.

She pulled on her hoodie and long jeans, before opening up the window. She slipped right out, as she had so many nights before, before closing the window behind her.

The mansion's roof had been built to be at a slight slope, so the moment she had her footing, she hiked her way up to the top, doing her best not to fall over. It probably would have been harder if she had decided to wear shoes, so even if her feet were freezing, it was still better than slipping off and having the other residents wake up to a red bloodstain that use to be a proxy.

Once she got to the top, she just sat there, watching. Her eyes were on everything and nothing at the same time, constantly darting about at the sight on any type of movement.

She yawned, rubbing her eyes as she kept a lookout. She wanted to tell herself that it was for nothing, that it was just to make sure that no one got too close, but she knew better.

It had been about a year since her little family reunion, but even then, the still fresh-feeling memories sent chills down her back. To think that she had any sort of connections to those two, a sister that was blood-crazy and a father who both provoked and nourish it; it didn't really give her the best of impressions.

She had a year to try to brush it off, a year to get over it and move on, but every waking second and sleeping moment, it troubled her. The nightmares of red eyes and shadows closing in have only gotten worse, to the point where she could swear her dreams were beginning to melt into reality.

She had to remind herself that she was safe here, but it didn't change that uneasy feeling in her chest. She didn't like to admit it, but there have been times where she's woken up screaming, her room left in a state of disarray. It was only after bugging Ben for a camera did she realize that the shadows in her room threw stuff around her room when the night terrors got back.

She hugged her knees to try to keep warm, resting her chin on her knees. Too much had changed, but not all of it had been for the worst, she guessed.

Things had just been...Different, that's all. After that night, nothing more was said, and nothing was really said since then. Lilith wanted to think it was odd, but that whole situation was just all odd on its own.

It wasn't like she could really ask for an explanation. At the moment, he was the one holding all the cards, he's always been the one in control here. But, on the bright side, being how she hasn't been kicked out yet, she guessed that it couldn't be all that bad.

...Or was that just wistful thinking?

God, this was giving her nothing but a headache.

Staring up at the night sky, Lilith sighed, eyes slowly beginning to droop. It wasn't like she had much a chance anyway, she tried to reason with herself. There was no reason to get your hopes up, she told herself. Yes, that was it just...Don't think too hard on it, cause the moment you do, you don't stop thinking about it, and before you know it, it begins to fill your thoughts and take your mind over, and then...And then...

She didn't realize it, when she had finally fallen asleep, and that's when he finally stepped out.

He had noticed it, as he always did, when she wondered about at night. Most times, he'd watch from afar, just to make sure that she'd come back alright. But others, when he found her asleep somewhere, whether it be a tree or the roof (one more often than the other), he'd be the one to take her back.

It wasn't much of a hassle for him, in all honesty. She wasn't exactly heavy, so picking her up really wasn't that hard.

Teleporting to her room wasn't much of a hassle either, nor was tucking her in. He had made sure to pull the drapes down, knowing how much she'd prefer the dark over some moonlight.

The Slenderman wasn't a fool. He knew what kept her up at night, and he knew what stole her mind during the day; but it wasn't his place to say something. Of course, he'd never know exactly what she was thinking without a quick mind reading, but right now...No, now wasn't the time nor the place.

He made sure that she was comfortable, before stepping out of the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

She'd be okay, he could make sure of that much at the very least.

* * *

There really was no view like Evergreen town at night.

It had just enough lights to make it look like people lived there, but they were so scattered and dim that it still looked like the forest that surrounded it.

But, to the north of the town, a low buzz went throughout the area, just over the sound of the crickets chirp. A part of the grass on the ground went from its natural green to a dark morbid shade of black, before bubbling up into a black soupy liquid, forming a perfect circle.

The lights of the sleeping town did little to nothing against the sudden feeling of fear and dread that radiated from the circle, before a hand reached out, crawling herself out of the hole.

The skin was white, with blue lines crackling all over, making her look almost see through. Dark black greasy hair covered her face, as the girl pulled herself out of the muck, a light cackle leaving her mouth.

Finally, she stepped out, the soft laughter quickly turning into a sort of insane howl, throwing her head back to laugh,before looking around, "Finally, it took long enough to find this place again! If I'm lucky, my friends have already done what they could."

Her dark blue eyes only helped to make her look insane, with black webs weaving their way through her pupil, as she threw her hands up into the air, "I'm so happy daddy let me out so soon!"

Skipping around, she kicked a dirt of dirt out of the way, as she did a sort of happy dance, "Of course, he really does want big sis back home, it's so dull without her..."

A bone chilling crack left her neck, as she allowed her nails to grow into talons, slicing into the tree, "She should be there to enjoy it with us."

"Whether she likes it or not."

* * *

 **Lilith: Ugh, I hate being portrayed as weak.**

 **Me: Helps people see that you've still got a human side.**

 **Lilith: I can understand that, but still, I hate it.**

 **Me: Understandable, I guess.**

 **Amy: I think she's just a bit jealous about how she's got to be in this "serious" story, while the rest of us are allowed to make jokes here and there.**

 **Kuro: Well, with a name like "Lilith Shadows", what would you expect? A puppy?**

 **Erin: Says the one with the Japanese-not-Japanese name. Probably because Lilim sounds too much like Lilith, huh?**

 **Kuro: That...Is something I've never noticed till now.**

 **Amy: Hah, get fucked.**

 **Me: Yeah-wait, how the hell did you get in?**

 **Amy: That fourth wall you got is flimsy as hell.**

 **Me: Being how it cost a lot of money to replace and repair, it's your fault that you guys decide to go ahead and trample the fourth wall.**

 **Amy: Still, would it hurt to use more than duct tape and zip ties?**

 **Lilith: Okay, duct tape makes sense; but zip ties?**

 **Me: If high school robotics has taught me anything, what cannot be repaired with duct tape can be put together with zip ties. If neither work, it's a problem that can't be solved.**

 **Amy: Wow, that...That explains a lot.**

 **Me: Alright, fuck off, I wanna finish this chapter.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed, feel free to drop a review, for a live and breathe on those, and I'll cya next chappy!**

 **Till then, bai bai!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi hi!**

 **God, it's been so long since I've written for Slender.**

 **It's like riding a bike. I haven't done it for so long, but this still feels familiar. It's a nice sort of familiar too.**

 **It's great, it's like I'm home.**

 **Lilith: Cut the crap and let's get on with it.**

 **Me: Jeez, alright then, I'm just trying to make it all nice.**

 **Lilith: You're wasting time. Onwards.**

 **Me: Wait, you can't just-**

* * *

Lilith woke up in her room, just a bit confused as to why she was in her room, only to shake the thought away as she yawned and stretched.

There would be times where she could have sworn that she had gone out into the forest or up onto the roof, but just as she would this time, she shook it off, "Must have been a dream."

"Do tell, what kind of a dream are we talking about here?"

Being how she'd just woken up, she jumped a bit at the sudden voice, only to scowl, "Are you shitting me, Ben!?"

He smirked, floating so that he was fully through the wall and into her room, "Is it a crime to know what kind of dirty things you decided to think about last night?"

Lilith gave him a look, only to then realize it, as she covered her left eye in shock, "Crap, move, Bennifer! I need to grab my stuff!"

Ben floated at ease next to her, as she went for her vanity, pulling the drawer open, "Come on, I just want one juicy detail, that's all I'm asking!"

"If you don't shut up now, I swear, I will personally escort you to one of those isolation tanks."

Ben gasped, a dramatic hand placed on his chest, "…You…Wouldn't dare…"

"Ben, you know I'm not one to give many warnings."

She quickly pulled out the two beloved items, instantly put the eye patch on, having mastered the act a while ago, before pulling the mask over her face. She breathed it in, "Ah…Much better…"

Ben scowled, giving her a look, "Why do you always cover up your face?"

Lilith gave him a look under her mask, "Why does it matter to you?"

"Does it really hurt to be a little curious?"

Lilith couldn't help the small smirk on her face, before looking around, "Come on, let's go get some food."

Ben let out a loud groan, snapping his fingers, making a DS appear in his hands, "Whatever." He murmured, playing as they went down the spiral staircase.

As usual, it was about as chaotic as possible. Jeff managed to fight with someone else, Jane having been gone for a little over a week now. At the current moment, he was in a heated "discussion" with Painter.

Eyeless was sitting at the dining table, simply watching as he bit into the kidney he was eating. LJ and Ben were now hanging out at their end of the table, chatting most likely about only the most horrific and odd things.

Sighing, she took a seat hear the head of the table, seated silently with the other proxies across from her, their boss at the very head of the table.

Lilith nearly jumped when a cold hand came down on her shoulder, a dark and low voice chuckling, "Morning, babe~."

Lilith sighed, brushing off the hand, "Offender."

Offender smirked darkly, sitting down on her right, smirking as he pulled a rose out of his trench coat, "It's a beautiful day out, wouldn't you agree? Maybe, just maybe, it could be a day that a lady like you would take a rose like this?"

Lilith made a face, pushing his hand out of the way, "No." She had long since accepted

Offender smirked lazily, reaching for her mask, "Come on now, don't be like that. Let's see that beautiful face~."

"No."

Offender smirked, getting a grasp on the chin of the mask, "Come on now, pretty kitty…Let's see that face that Slender oh so adores-."

 _"Offender."_

Lilith couldn't help but jump back a bit, when a hand grabbed Offender's, thrusting it away, "Come on now, I was only giving her that public affection you don't!"

Lilith winced, but didn't get into it. He had no business in...Whatever she had with the boss man himself.

Slender simply shook his head as he walked out, looking as if the comment had no effect. Or, for all she knew, her boss hadn't heard him obnoxious brother with how loud it always was down here in the dining room.

Finally, amid the chaos, someone spoke up, "So, I heard that Shadow Lurker was going to check in today." Puppeteer offered from his end of the table.

It was amazing to Lilith how she'd spent a whole year here, and there were still names being toss around that she didn't know, "Who's the Shadow Lurker?"

If Trender could, she was sure that he'd have his mouth gaping wide open, before clearing his throat, "No one really, dear, just one of the most powerful Shades alive in this realm of existence."

That simple word sent shivers down her spine. A Shade, shadow demons. From what she'd gathered, most Shades were somewhat like her. Children of Zalgo, born to do his bidding and wishes, "So, this Shadow Lurker...he's like me and Lizzie?"

Trenderman nodded, but as cool as he tried to act, even he shivered a bit at the very name. Apparently, Lizzie had been around for a lot longer then she'd first expected, taking out stray Creepypastas left and right for at least the last five years, if the records Lilith found were accurate.

She found it odd that there were internet sightings far before she'd even known the girl, but with how popular some of them were, it really wasn't all too unbelievable.

She shook her head, as the smell of pancakes and syrup filled the air. Slender emerged, his tendrils holding the multiple plates, before setting it all down on the table. He sat silently at the top of the table, on Lilith's other side, a cup of coffee in his hand, _"I'll need my proxies at the end of breakfast."_

On Slender's far right, the three nodded, all of them sitting together while eating. Lilith took some time to just stare at her plate, before standing up, taking the plate with her to the living room.

Not that anyone really noticed, all of them too deep into their conversations to really be watching Lilith go into the living room, at least, that's what she thought.

Right when she thought that she might be able to eat a bit in peace, being alone on the couch in the living room and all, Ben decided to pop out of the TV.

It was a trick that she, as well as all the others, had grown use to already, but that didn't mean it was ny less annoying, "What do you want, Bennifer?"

"Is it a crime to want to spend some time for a friend?" Ben asked, before sitting down next to her on the couch, "Besides, no one else is here to fight me for the TV."

"Whatever." Lilith finally sighed, before sliding her mask upwards, just enough so that her mouth was exposed, before shovelling some food into her mouth.

Ben just shrugged, turning the TV on, "...So, what's been bugging ya?"

"Nothing." Lilith muttered.

"Someone's a bit more sour than normal," Ben noted, "Now I KNOW there's something big on your mind."

"Didn't you say you were here for the TV?" Lilith scowled, giving him a pointed look, "Go play some video games or something."

"Honestly, it's nothing but white noise." He muttered, waving it off, "But seriously, you been feeling it, as of late?"

Lilith shrugged, "I 'feel' a lot in this household, you'll have to be a bit more specific."

"Oh, I bet you do~."

"One more smart comment, I dare you. We'll see how easy it is to speak at the bottom of a lake."

"Jeez, fine, whatever." Ben scoffed, before going back to lounging into the couch. The two sat in silence, with whatever was playing on the TV and the sounds from the dining room being the only real noise, before finally Lilith finished whatever was on the plate.

She sighed, resisting the temptation to sink into the couch herself, before rising, "Do me a solid and put that plate away."

"You don't really think that I'll-." Ben started to say, only to look up just in time to watch Lilith walk right through the wall, "...Hey, LJ, do me a favor?"

* * *

When Lilith re-appeared, it was right outside of Slender's office, a small headache being her only real company at the moment.

It was a sort of drawback, some that she was used to at this point. There would be off times when she'd do a small jump or something else Shade-like, and it would end with something being...off. Usually, it was just a small nosebleed, but every now and then, a headache would bloom instead.

Yep, with great power, right?

She gave herself a moment to massage her temple, before knocking on the door. To her surprise, it was Toby to open it, goggles hanging around his neck, "Oh, hey!"

Lilith nodded in greeting, before walking in. Being how she didn't come in here often, it was only now that she really realized how different the room looked. The bed that had been pushed to the side was now replaced with a rather thick bookshelf, making it look more like and office and less like a sort of background den.

Toby nodded, taking a seat on one of the wooden chairs pushed to the side of the room, before passing her one of said stools, "Yeah, Masky got sick of me. Besides, wanted to see if I could beat you up here."

Lilith allowed a small smile, pulling the mask back into place, "Looks like you did. Good on you, I guess."

The two sat in the calm silence, neither needing to say anything, when Toby cleared his throat, "So…Have you noticed how master's been acting lately?"

"Hmm?" Lilith murmured, a bit shocked, "No, I haven't noticed anything. Why?"

"Oh, okay…Maybe it's just me than…" Toby grinned, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Knowing my luck, it's probably just something that's always been there that I haven't noticed till now."

"That's…believable."

"there's no need to be rude about it, you know." Toby said, faking a pout for all of five seconds, before giving it up for a large toothy smile.

At least, that's what she assumed was under the handkerchief.

"Someone's being a little more sullen than usual." Toby giggled, nudging with his elbow, "What's messing with you? Er, what's messing with you more than usual?"

"Drop it." Lilith growled out, rolling her shoulders in an attempt to relax, "Honestly, why is everyone always so interested in what's going on with me?"

Toby's grin seemed to grow wider, "Now I know something's up."

"What did I do now?"

"You just seem so…off."

"...You have your problems, and I have mine." Lilith muttered, pulling at her fingers, "Let's just leave it at that."

Toby looked like he wanted to question her more, to press on, only to have the office door open, revealing the last two proxies.

"…Hey." Masky murmured, while Hoodie offered a sort of stiff nod.

Lilith nodded back, "Where's Slender?"

 _"Behind you."_

Lilith quickly turned back around, and sure enough, Slender was sitting in his desk chair, leaning forward. A small shock went through Lilith, only to shake her head. She knew for a fact that he wasn't there earlier.

Lilith watched as the other two took their chairs, sitting down, before Slender began, _"Today's mission will be one that I need done as soon as possible. You'll be meeting with Shadow Lurker at the edge of town. He's found something…Interesting that he requires help with."_

Lilith nodded sternly. So far, from what she's heard, this Shadow Lurker was a Shade, and thus, just like Lizzie.

That was all she knew, and in all honesty, it wasn't something she was very…comfortable with knowing.

"When do we depart?" Masky questioned, rising from his chair, his hand over his gun, which was, as usual, on his belt.

 _"Immediately."_

Just like that, the four got up, putting the tools back, and walked out. All but one.

 _"Lilith."_

Hairs rose on the back of her neck, as she watched the other three leave, "…Yes, sir?"

He looked like he had a lot to say, something very important, only to sigh, _"…I know what you're thinking, believing that he cannot be trusted."_

Lilith was a bit taken aback, unsure of what to say for a while, before nodding, "Yes sir."

Slender nodded, before leaning back, _"When you get back…We have things to discuss."_

Lilith nodded, pushing the dark and scary thoughts out of her head, as she walked into the shadows of the wall, slowly mending into it.

She caught one last glance, Slender sitting at his desk, writing who knows what, before the world went black.

* * *

 **So, I doubt you guys know this, but writing and updating for two stories is hard. How some people are able to keep three or more stories is a total mystery. Those people are gods, I swear. I can barely remember to update one at times, how do some people manage ten stories at once!?**

 **Seriously, someone let me in on this secret. I really wanna know.**

 **Lilith: I believe that the first step is to stop being so lazy.**

 **Me: Shush you, I'm the one writing your story.**

 **Lilith: After how long, again? My Shadows ended November 29, 2015.**

 **Amy: Wow, that's a good three years ago.**

 **Me: Yeah- Hey, when did you come in!?**

 **Amy: I get privileges for being first!**

 **Lilith:...Times like this, I'm glad that I'm not the first to have come about.**

 **Amy: What's that suppose to mean!?**

 **Lilith: The world can only handle so many retards. And being how half of those you've created, Crimson, are a little over the side, I'm glad that I am not one of them.**

 **Me: Come on now, who doesn't enjoy a funny stupid person?**

 **Lilith: Intellectuals.**

 **Me: Well...I...Huh. Fuck.**

 **Amy: Senior quote material, right there.**

 **Me: You know what, both of you, out. I'm going to wrap up the rest of this chapter, you guys go back beyond the fourth wall. I can only handle so much.**

 **Amy: Aww, come on, if we're not here, you'll get bored!**

 **Lilith: I think she'll be able to manage *Drags Amy out by the ear***

 **Me: Won't lie, it's too fun to talk to yourself at points.**

 **Maybe I'm your average comedic schizo.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, feel free to leave a review if you did, and I'll cya guys next chappy!**

 **Till then, bai bai!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi hi!**

 **I got nothing to say here.**

 **So, let us move on!**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Every time she traveled a long distance like this, it always felt odd.

But it was never that ice cube type of cold, just a cold tingle-sensation and then it's over. It was more so a shiver that went down her entire being, like a sharp strike of ice lightning going down and out her bones.

And then, on top of that, she felt as if someone or something was watching her. The traveling is hard enough, being how you've got to keep your mind on that one person or place. If it was a short travel, you didn't have to put much time and effort on the focus. But, if you were to go from one side of the world to the other, with her amount of "practice", you'd most likely end up with only half of your body.

But, as usual, Lilith emerged from the shadows of the trees, right behind Masky, "Sorry I took so long."

The boy screamed in a way that she'd yet to hear, jumping into Hoodie's arms, only to be dropped to the ground. Lilith laughed lightly, while Toby full on bent over, cackling like mad. Even Hoodie's shoulders quivered a bit, while Masky merely scowled, dusting himself off, "Why'd you do that?"

"I popped out of a tree and announced myself. Last I checked, you hated it when I didn't say anything."

Masky growled, pushing Lilith back, "Whatever." He growled, pushing past her, "The only reason I'm not shooting you is because, if I do, Slender would kill me."

"As if I'd give you the chance to pull the trigger."

"…Screw off."

Lilith sighed, before walking off, extending her hand. Not only could she pull herself from the shadows, but she could have also pulled any object out from a shadow. As long as she knew what it looked like, she could grab it from the shadows. But, the bigger the object, the more power it took.

God, she really had to write a book of all these little notes. Even after a year, she was still going through the trial and error.

Luckily, her scythe was something that she'd "teleport" in almost every day, meaning that it was now relatively easy, ranging from in the middle of a fight to in the middle of the night.

She reached into a sort of dimensional pocket, pulling out the long steel handle, the arched-blade coming out last, gleaming in the late morning sun. She gripped the handle, walking on, only to stop.

Masky scowled behind her, "Do you sense something in the force, Luke?"

Lilith gave him a look, before looking around again. A shiver went down her spine, but this one was different. It wasn't a jolt of shock, rather, it seemed to be an intense fear. Her eyes widened. This feeling was familiar, but not at all missed.

She hoped and prayed that she was wrong right now.

She dashed down the small hill, scythe trailing her behind. No, it wasn't possible, she couldn't be back…

Could she?

She stopped at the edge of the forest line, right where the roadway out of town was located. In the early morning, no one was ever really there, so no one was there to see the fight going on.

Five kids, maybe around fifteen years of age if Lilith were to guess. They all seemed to trail after…A shadow? No, it was a figure, but it was moving too fast, almost blur-like.

Masky pushed past her, giving her a look, "Move it on, you idiot!"

He went in, guns blazing, with Hoodie right behind him, knives flashing. Lilith shook her head, a small headache forming, before dashing off to help, Toby right behind her, his hatches out and ready for a kill.

Lilith tackled the nearest one, wondering what kind of supernatural creature this was. A zombie of sorts, or maybe a fabled SCP?

Oh, how she wished it was like that.

She looked into the girl's eyes, which were wide with fear, slowly turning a murky black. On her face was a large smile, teeth, a shade too perfect to be only white.

Mindless.

The girl tossed Lilith over her shoulder, right into a tree. It was enough force to make Lilith cough, a bit of blood splattering over her mask, before she rose, jumping out of the way of the next hit.

The kick was hard enough to leave a hole in the tree.

Lilith sighed, twirling the scythe, looking the girl over. She parted the next attack, all the while, a disturbing thought came up in her head, a conclusion that she never wanted to deal with again.

The girl growled, lunging, only to have Lilith step out of the way. With the twitch of her hand, a part of her shadow slithered off, rising from the ground as a tall snake, with two red glowing eyes.

Yet another nifty little trick.

It bit down into the girl's neck, eliciting a screech, before coiling around her, diving back into the ground. The girl lied there, helpless, as she slowly died. Her eyes were still open with an insane fear, before looking up at Lilith, "So…You…Must…Be…Her…"

Lilith growled lightly, "…Is she back?"

The girl whipped her head back, cackling madly, her laughter as insane as HER, "…She wants to...play again."

Just like that, her eyes went full black, another string of insane laughter coming from her mouth, before she went silent. Her head whipped back, the snap being something she was all too familiar with at this point. Lilith scowled, leaving the body on the ground, cold unfeeling eyes lifeless to the world.

Dead.

All the while, Lilith's eyes were still wide with shock, using her scythe to hold her up.

So, after all that had happened, after all she'd tried, it was true.

Lizzie was back.

She was snapped out of her head when something hit her across the face, an angry Masky, "Did you not hear me, runt? Go after them!"

Lilith growled back lightly, before bringing herself back up, cracking her neck. She sprinted on after them, each footstep leaving behind minor dead patches of grass. They'd been far gone before she'd begun running, but it was easy to spot them. Even so, it wasn't too hard to follow the trail they "left" behind. It was like a sort of invisible trail. Something you couldn't see, rather, you felt it.

Suddenly, she heard a small shriek, forcing herself to dash faster. She turned the corner, swinging around with her scythe, before her eyes widened.

The remaining madness-driven had surrounded and pinned...Was that some boy? Whoever it was, he was curled up, leaning up against the tree, covering his face. All she could make out was short wavy blond hair.

The mindless seemed to click their teeth, slowly but surely closing in, as if they were either curious or playing with their food.

Lilith sighed, before throwing her scythe down, the blade making the rest stick up into the air, "HEY!"

They all turned greedily, eyes wide while insane smirked widened. Lilith planted her boots into the ground, "Make my day."

Just like that, as if those were the magic words, they dashed at her, so fast that their arms flew to their sides, mouths opened like some sort of zombies. She gave the boy a look, who slowly began to look up, pale blue eyes still riddled with fear, only to look back down, tucking his head in.

Lilith sighed, pulling her scythe back out, before taking a swing at the closest one. At one point, she'd tried to be careful, knowing that these were just possessed people, only to give up later on.

The moment those eyes go black, they're dead.

She cut down another, a boy that she could have sworn to know years ago, when she could still pass off as normal. She shook he head, thrusting her hand out, fingers wide apart, causing tendrils of shadows to bust from the ground, killing the last two.

She looked around, a job well done, if she did say so herself…

…If only…

She turned to the boy, who was still shivering, looking up at what she'd done. She couldn't help but scowl. He must think of her to be one of them.

A monster.

She walked over, "Get up."

When he didn't move, she threw a knife at him, causing him to yelp as it embedded itself into the tree behind him. The force was enough to make his ear go red with blood, the small cut enough to make him panic.

"I said get up."

The boy rose slowly, still shaking, as he looked her over with those pale blue eyes. He was scrawny but had some type of build on him. At first, he'd struck her as a weak nerdy type, but she could see those ripped jeans and the blue shirt with the sleeves ripped off.

He looked like some sort of confused biker gang member, or a geek who somehow got caught up in the wrong club.

Lilith looked him over, scythe over her shoulder. He looked so...odd. He stuck out, and it wasn't hard to see him in that hell of a high school, easily ripped apart for just looking weird.

Lilith nodded, before raising the scythe over her head, remorse in her eyes. The boy's eyes widened, as he backed up, "N-n-no! What a-are you d-d-doing?"

"You know of my existence." Lilith murmured, her grip tightening, "You can't live on with this type of knowledge."

The boy shook his head, scared, "…B-but I c-can keep a secret!"

"Do not lie to me, human."

"P-please…I'll do anything! I promise, I won't-tell!"

Lilith looked the kid over. He was a coward, there was no way around it. From the way that he held, er rather, curled into himself, he wasn't a fighter. She didn't know what it was, maybe it was pity, but she felt herself slowly lowering the scythe…

She shook her head, no way she could let him live! It would be a direct violation to the proxy code, to allow and outside to see one of them and live.

If she didn't, that would be a danger to all of the other residents. Sally, Toby, LJ, Ben; they could all be taken into some kind of containment unit, all because she didn't kill this boy.

But, at the same time, she couldn't bring herself to kill him. It felt as if it should have been something easy to do at this point, and yet, as much as her head yelled to do it, her body did otherwise.

Just who was he really?

She put the scythe down, much to the boy's happiness and dismay, "…W-what a-a-are y-you-?"

"Leave." Lilith commanded, walking backwards, keeping a wary eye on him, "If I ever catch you around here again for no good reason, I'll kill you."

She watched his eyes widen, as she backed up into the shadows, before he turned and ran for it. Lilith nodded, pulling at her hoodie collar for a bit, before dashing off to meet with the others.

One thing was for certain. No matter what she did, she couldn't shake the feeling that they would cross paths once again.

* * *

 **Gotta love those guys that try to be something their not.**

 **I don't mean in that "If I change, she'll notice me" sense, I mean how they think they're one thing so they try to be it, and then they end up looking just...confused.**

 **...I have no idea how to explain it.**

 **But I will figure it out!**

 **...One day.**

 **Amy: Or another.**

 **Me: No one asked you.**

 **Amy: But I went ahead and told, didn't I?  
**

 **Me: but you're forgetting; no one asked for your opinion.**

 **Amy: But I gave it anyway.**

 **Me: But...You know what, fuck this, we're not going to get anywhere at this rate.**

 **Lilith: This is why Amy will never get a sequel.**

 **Amy: Oh, like you're doing so well as of late.**

 **Lilith: Excuse me?**

 **Amy: Last I checked, you've got one follower. That's it.**

 **Lilith: And so? Just because you've got a lot of reviews doesn't mean that you're any good.**

 **Amy: What are you trying to reference?  
**

 **Lilith: SSBU.**

 **Amy:...You take that back.**

 **Lilith: Make me.**

 **Me: Alright, you two can fight in the next chapter, I'm done here.**

 **So, I hope you guys enjoyed, feel free to drop some reviews, and I'll cya next chappy!**

 **Till then, bai bai!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi hi!**

 **Won't waste your time here, so let us get a move on!**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Once she'd arrived at the right place, she found the sun nearing the top of the sky. She gave it a look, wondering how so much time could have gone, before shaking her head, joining the other four.

Masky and Hoodie were speaking with the mysterious hooded figure, Shadow Lurker she assumed by the way he looked (assuming it was a him), while Toby ran around, seemingly chasing around some butterfly.

As she neared, Masky spun around, "About time, runt."

Lilith growled lightly, "Quit calling me that." She murmured, looking over to the hooded figure.

He radiated fear and mystery, the shadows at his feet wavering ever so slightly, as if even his shadow were tangible enough to be affected by the wind. When he looked up, all she saw were dull grey eyes, but even so, they still managed to glow darkly. He stood straight up, the hood shifting to reveal ghastly grey skin, his black hair short enough to just stick right up like a messy buzzcut, "…Alois?"

Lilith stared at the man, only now a distant memory tugged at her. She knew that voice…But from where? "Sorry, that's not me."

"…Ah, yes, alright."

Yet another moment, lost to being confused and lost mentally. But, before it could consume her, she pushed it to the side, "Shall we be heading back yet?"

"What do you think we're about to do?" Masky murmured back, before walking off, reloading his gun, "Let's go."

Lilith sighed, hiking up the small valley way, only to shake her head, "I'll meet you guys there." She murmured, before dropping into her own shadow.

Within seconds, she materialized in her room, just in time to collapse on her bed. She'd have to think about a different mode of getting around, that, or she'd need more training for this whole shadow travel thing.

"Don't worry, it'll only be like that for a bit longer."

Lilith jumped back, as the Shadow Lurker sat down in her chair, eyes boring into her own, "What are you doing in here!?"

"I needed a chance to get a good look at you." He murmured, before reaching up. His fingers were like Slender's ice-cold touch, odd and too frozen to be human. He pulled the mask off, causing Lilith to jump back, covering her face, "What was that for?"

Shadow Lurker huffed, "I just said, I need a good look at you." He murmured, prying her hands way. His dead grey eyes bore into hers, before a small smile tugged at the tips of his mouth, "I knew it was you, little princess."

Just like that, it all clicked together, as her eyes widened. Her grip on her scythe loosened, "Y-you're…"

Shadow Lurker nodded, holding out his hand, "The Shadow Lurker, at your service. Or, simply Shad will do."

Lilith nodded, shaking the hand, "Okay…Shad…" She murmured.

Shad smiled, before looking the weapon over, whistling, "Looks like the old scythe is still going strong, huh?"

Lilith nodded, eyeing the man weirdly, looking him over. Now that she thought about it, that face, the way he held himself; it was all so similar to that stranger that gave her money and her signature weapon. He flashed her a smile, those bright white teeth bright enough to kill, only to have his face fall, "You know what's going on, don't you?"

Lilith shook her head, "I'm sorry, there's a lot of shit going around here. You'll have to specify."

"Those things, we call them the madness-ridden." Shad explained slowly, as if she were a child, "You know why they're back, right?"

"…Are you saying that-?"

"Yes, yes she is." Shad confirmed, "Which is why I'm here. The first time it happened, a year ago, I wasn't here to help solve the issue before it blew up in everyone's faces. That why I'm here now."

Lilith nodded, only to shake her head, "So, you plan to stay here…To what?"

Shad sighed, shaking his head, "Think, little princess. I'm here to warn you, all of you. You think that the last time was her true power? She was just warming up. You have no idea what a Shade is able to do. With the drive and the skill, a shade could end the world and all life if they wanted to."

Lilith couldn't help but become a bit surprise and impressed, "…Then why do you sound so tense? I mean, if she's that must of a threat, I don't see why we wouldn't agree to your view."

Shad shook his head, laughing. If she didn't know any better, she'd think that he was just another normal guy, a father maybe, laughing and talking like any other person. Like a human.

He acted more human than she did, anyway.

"I doubt that Slender would ever hear me out." Shad murmured, leaning back, eyes closed, "The guy is about as stubborn as they get. And honestly, we rarely ever see eye to eye…"

Lilith tilted her head to the side, "Really?"

Shad gave her a sort of look, only to laugh lightly again, "I've heard that you've been a proxy of his for a while now, and you don't even know how stubborn he is?"

Lilith shrugged. She wasn't in any place to really in a position to complain, even if she did notice. You did as he said, no if's and's or but's.

She sighed, looking around, "…Can I ask you something?"

"Yes. Go ahead."

"…How do you know me?"

Shad gave her a look, one of slight cringe and fear, "Well, you're quite the thing around in the Underworld."

"Underworld?"

Shad nodded, "That's what we call Zalgo's realm. You know the idea of hell?"

Lilith nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"It's said that the idea of hell came from the nicer side of Zalgo's realm." Shad murmured, his eyes darkening, only to shake his head, giving her a small smile, "You don't know much about your past, do you?"

Lilith gave him a look, pushing back the painful memories, "…I know enough."

Shad simply shook his head, before rising, "When you're ready, I'll be here to help you out. But, till then, I need to go downstairs already. Slender's waiting."

Lilith nodded, rising, only to grip her hands nervously, "Why do I have the feeling that this won't end up well?"

Shad gave her a grin, but the fear in his eyes were easy to spot, "Knowing Slender? No; someone's gonna leave the room headless, mangled or dead. Fun, huh?"

* * *

In the living room, the air was a lot calmer than normal. On a couch, Ben, Jeff and LJ were sitting on the couch watching some sort of horror film.

Slender sat on a comfortable leather chair, reading over what seemed to be a good book, only to look up at the two, regarding them both for a bit, before setting the book down, _"Shadow Lurker…As always, a pleasure to have you here in our residence."_

Shad nodded, bowing slightly, "It's always great to come over." He said, before his expression turned to a much more serious one, "Now, if we could start?"

Slender nodded, _"Of course. Ben, Jeff, LJ; you three go to your rooms. We have business to go over."_

Jeff scowled, while Ben grumbled, only to phase into the ground, "Whatever." The smiling killer murmured, walking off with the sugar rush clown behind him.

Lilith was planning to head after them, only to feel Slender's cold bony hand clasp around her wrist, _"Lilith, I'd like you to stay."_

Lilith nodded, knowing that he was just trying to be polite with his order, before she sat down on the ground next to the chair, Shad taking the chair opposite from the tall faceless man.

All three of them sat in silence, before Shad cleared his throat, "Slender…You already know why I'm here-."

 _"Then you'll also know my answer."_ Slender insisted, Lilith staying silent, _"I can't chance something like that. Not again, and never again. You were here the last time you proposed this, you should have learned from then."_

"Be reasonable, Slender." Shad joked lightly, trying to clear up the tense air, "You know what that monster did last time; that was just a warm up. You and I both know that, don't play the child here. Hell, I'm sure even the good doctor you keep in your basement knows this well, just as well as we do."

 _"Then you'll need to understand why I won't allow them to go after her."_ Slender pushed, _"I won't allow them to be injured over a small chance."_

"It's not too small at the moment."

 _"You have little to no proof."_

Shad gave Lilith a look, "Maybe I don't…but I do have her." He said, gesturing to Lilith.

She looked down, hating it when the spotlight was casted on her, _"Lilith, what does he mean?"_ He asked calmly, but even she could tell that, at any moment, he could break.

Just the thought was enough to make her want to crawl under something and never come out.

"I…I saw it, sir." Lilith murmured, running a hand through her head, as her other hand fiddled with her mask, which was still hanging around her neck, "It's…She's back, sir, I can feel it. I remember it too well, we have to do something."

Slender didn't seem to like that answer, as he leaned back, _"…Just because she thinks so does not mean that it is certain."_

Shad groaned, holding his face, "Open your eyes, Slender!" He said, his volume raising, "She's coming, we need to get ready! We need to prepare!"

 _"Do not raise your tone with me, Shadow Lurker."_ Slenderman hissed rather darkly, the tone nearly making Lilith jump. She could feel the tension raising, and seeing how they both were, neither were anywhere close to backing down, _"Not only would I like to keep under control, but I'd rather keep this from the rest of the mansion."_

"And why should we do that?" Shad threw right back, looking like the tall faceless man was nothing to be intimidated by, "We need numbers, we have to destroy this before it becomes something big."

 _"I'd rather not lend you my proxies,"_ Slenderman sighed, shaking his head while pinching the bridge of his nose, _"Not after what you tried to pull the last time."_

That peaked at Lilith's interest, only to sigh, now was not the time to ask, "And if this dangerous Shade comes back around for Lilith?"

 _"I will keep her protected."_ Slenderman vowed, _"As you once said long ago, what good is a dead proxy?"_

"Still more useful than one you choose to keep all nice and pretty at the top of your shelf!" Shad spat out, fists clenched. The longer she sat there, the more she felt out of place. Should she really be down here? Slender was the master of the house, no question, and here Shad comes in, borderline shouting at the faceless being. It was like watching titans do battle up close. All she could really do was get around fast and swing a scythe.

Honestly, not much compared to what others around here could do.

"You're the one with the great army. You've got all these followers, all around the world! From proxies to the others, you hold influence and power! And yet, when this threat comes knocking at your doorstep, you choose to hide?" Shad scoffed, leaning back, "Back in the day, you were the one moving pieces before the game even started. You had the whole game planned out before the other team got a chance to move! What happened to that guy?"

 _"There is no need to fight when you can simply avoid the conflict."_ Slender said, borderline growling, _"We can live to fight another day."_

"So, you want us to sit and wait!?"

 _"I want this game to be played smart."_

Shad scowled, before turning to Lilith, "What do you think about this?"

She took a moment to snap out of her daze, taking a few extra seconds to realize that he was talking to her, thinking it over. Of course, if there was a chance that Lizzie was out there, the threat should be stopped before it had a chance to rear its ugly head. But, at the same time, even if this Shadow Lurker was the same one from all those years ago, something still didn't feel right about the guy.

"I'm...I'm not too sure yet." Lilith muttered, looking down at her hands. She didn't want to meet either of their faces, unsure why she was given the floor to speak.

"Well that...That was less hope than I was expecting." Shad admitted, almost sheepishly, before rising, giving the taller being a look, "...I know you see it. You can't keep them safe forever, you can't keep her safe forever, not if we do not act."

 _"...We will speak more on this tomorrow,"_ Slender said, using that dismissing tone that she'd heard much too much of, _"I will need both time and patience to think this out properly, but until then, your room has been left unused."_

Shad looked like he wanted to press on with it, only to sigh, nodding, "Yes, of course." He muttered, rubbing his forehead as he rose from his seat, giving Lilith one last unreadable look, before sinking into the floor.

Lilith took a little more time than she'd like to admit just staring at that exact spot, before Slender let out what sounded like a sigh, rising from his chair. Lilith didn't have to look up to know that Slender was staring holes into her forehead, "...Sir, if I may speak?"

 _"...You may."_

"While I do believe in waiting, I do not believe in waiting for this to pass over." Lilith murmured, cursing herself. She honestly sounded a lot more confident when she rehearsed this in her head, "If it is in fact Lizzie, which the Lurker and I seem to believe, we need to be ready."

He gave her a look, or, she assumed his did with the way that he held himself, before shaking his head, _"...I'd recommend you join the other proxies for their security rounds."_

To this, Lilith sighed, before nodding, bowing as she stood up, "Of course, sir." She muttered, doing her best not to sound too dejected.

 _"...Wait."_

Lilith spun around, tilting her head to the side, "Yes, sir?"

 _"…I understand your stance in this issue, but please understand that this is to keep everyone safe. We will act, but we also must ensure the protection of the others. Losing numbers will not be an option. Is that understood?"_

"Of course, sir." Lilith said with a swift bow. Part of her told her that there was a hinted message, as the aches from her scars last year seemed to pulse. Maybe this was his way of...No, that couldn't matter, not at the current moment. There were so many other things to worry about, surely something as trivial as this would not be on his mind at all.

With one last glance back to her Master, who seemed to be on his way to retire to his office, she headed for the door, pulling the mask into place. Knowing Masky, he was most likely going to make her practice just a bit tougher, just for her.

What fun.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi hi!**

 **Damn dudes, it's been a long while, hasn't it?**

 **Jeez, it's been really hard trying to write, but I shall prevail!**

 **Any who, let's get a move on!**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

"What took you so long, Shadows?" Masky scowled behind the mask, arms crossed over his chest, one hand holding a pistol.

"Had a quick meeting with the Boss, sorry." She muttered, feigning timidity, getting Toby to snicker from where he stood.

Masky either didn't notice or didn't care, as he turned to face the other two, "Since Lurker is here, the Boss wants us to run a little more town recon, make sure that nothing is out of the ordinary."

"How long will we be out?" Lilith asked, her scythe popping up from the ground just in time for her to lean forward on it, her posture oozing boredom.

"Could be the whole night," Masky snapped right back, "But that won't be a problem for you, right, 'princess'?"

"To think that a proxy like you would understand mannerisms." Lilith said, lucky to have the mask on to cover her huge sneer. Masky would surely try to punch her teeth in had he seen it, "Of course it won't be difficult."

"I surely hope you're not forced to strain yourself too much, princess, heaven forbid you sprain an ankle or something." Masky sneered.

"Says the one with the morning face routine."

"How do you know-I mean, what kind of accusation is that supposed to be!?" Masky shouted, his voice nearly squeaking. Before he could fly right off his rocker, Hoodie placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I swear, if you start lecturing me too, I'm putting a good one between my eyes." Masky grumbled, brushing Hoodie's hand off of his shoulder, before walking on without another word out his mouth.

"…Hopefully we will be finished earlier tonight, I heard that Puppeteer and Painter are going out. I wanna drop them a package before they leave." Toby murmured, the three of them following the path Masky was carving out for them.

"Speaking of packages, when do you think Jane will be back?" Lilith asked, kicking at the dead leaves with her boots. It had been awhile since she'd last seen the lady, "Wasn't she supposed to come back with something a while ago?"

"Who knows?" Masky said with a scoff, that being the only sound besides words that ever seemed to exit his mouth, "Honestly, it's for the best when she isn't around. If she isn't here, at least Jeff doesn't go ape-shit 24/7."

"But now he won't stop bothering everyone else." Toby added absentmindedly, his head whipping from side to side as if he was trying to keep track of something. All the while, Hoodie walked behind them, tossing his gun from hand to hand.

The rest of the trip was taken in silence, an occasional comment leaving Lilith's mouth, Masky being quick to put her down with some rude verbal lashing.

To which, Lilith only shrugged. Toby had asked her a long time ago, why she'd submit herself to the pyramid Masky had basically put himself at the top. Back then, it was out of a sort of respect. He'd been a proxy longer than her, and she didn't join their ranks to make enemies. But, after the last year, Lilith really just didn't care too much anymore. Out of the four of them, they all knew who would win in an honest fight-to-the-death battle, and Lilith, that was more than enough for her.

Of course, out of the four of them, Masky had been a proxy the longest, which made sense when it came to the question of who would lead. Hoodie was just as viable for the position, but for whatever reason, Hoodie chose to stick to second-in-command.

Finally, after a whole lot of silent walking, they arrived at the line. The one road that separated forest from Evergreen, "Each of us get a corner of the town."

"What t-time should we all meet up?" Toby asked, the four of them watching and evaluating for the time being.

"I'd say a little after sunset." Lilith murmured, pulling her mask off, eyepatch following. She hated having to blend in, but for scouting missions like these, it was necessary. She dropped them off in her shadow, watching the shadow she casted bubbled and rippled like water as the objects passed through, entering a place that only she could access, "Gives us enough time to really look over the place."

"That sounds fair." Hoodie said, his voice barely over a whisper, before Masky could jump in to say something snarky.

"You and Toby get to do mingle work." Masky muttered, his tone final as he walked off to go ahead and do something else.

"I don't suppose that he's talking to you, Hoodie?" Lilith murmured, turning to the side only to see that the other proxy was long gone, "And I thought I was the newly appointed master of sneaking off."

"In his defense, he's been doing this for a whole lot longer." Toby muttered, sighing as he pulled his usual handkerchief down around his neck, pulling his goggles off with a sigh, before looking to her with chocolate brown eyes, "So, how do you want to run this?"

"We hit the school first." Lilith muttered, looking away for a bit to take off and toss her mask and eyepatch, watching both sink into her shadow before holding her hand over it. A pair of sunglasses flew up into her hand, to which she threw on, blinking to get use to the dimmer colors, "Maybe we'll find a few we can lure back to the mansion and finish off there."

"Sounds like a plan!" Toby grinned, the two making sure the other was socially presentable, before walking out beyond the forest line.

The moment she stepped back onto that road, memories flooded by. From here, she knew all the quick ways to get back to Hannah's house, or how to get to one of her many hideouts. Having had little to no time to really think hard on it, she wondered who took up residency in that old crummy house.

She made a mental note to go on ahead and check in on it, just out of curiosity's sake.

The two made their way over to the high school, Lilith making a disgusted face. Words could not even begin to explain how much she hated this place.

It looked like school had just begun, with how students were beginning to file into the building, "See any stranglers?" Lilith asked, leaning back on a tree. Shielded from anyone near the building, but still looking casual enough not to raise an eyebrow, "Anyone that looks like they're out of place, trying too hard to fit in?"

"Nothing from this angle." Toby muttered, before stiffening a bit. Lilith felt it too, a sort of ghostly chill went up her spine, one that almost made her melt into the shadow of the tree.

Something was watching them.

"You feel it too?" Toby murmured, both hands shoved into his pockets. Lilith nodded, knowing that he had a hatchet hidden somewhere on him.

"Yeah, I did." Lilith muttered, looking around a bit more. Other than them, no one else was out on the streets. And being how the nearest house was across the street and a few blocks away, "I have no clue who it is though."

"You can't use your stupid-crazy shadow power to figure out who's spying on us?" Toby asked, seeming genuinely bewildered.

"Even if I could, I have no idea how." Lilith admitted, "But it doesn't matter, not right now at least. We know there's someone, and that's all we need right now."

"Huh…If you say so." Toby sighed, before rubbing the back of his neck, "Well, now I'm bored. I kinda wish I could have gone along with Masky. Not because you suck or anything, it's just that they're probably hacking up a body by now."

"I can already see how that would go." Lilith murmured, before taking a walk down the sidewalk. She had a decent idea of where they could find something, if they're search really did turn up empty, "Masky tells you to keep quiet and still, you do something, all three of you get caught. Masky wastes time telling you how much of an imbecile you were, while Hoodie takes care of the body. Did I miss anything?"

"Yeah, how Masky throws me into a wall and how he's in a hissy mood till we get back." Toby cackled, cracking his knuckles. Lilith was no expert, but she was pretty sure that there was no healthy way for that many cracks to come from just his two hands.

"Between you and me, Masky is addicted to flexing his power." Lilith muttered lowly, rolling her shoulders, before stiffening up.

Toby stopped in his tracks, giving Lilith an odd look, "You okay, Lil?"

"We need to move." Lilith muttered, trying to ignore the shiver going down her spine. Something felt...off. It was a similar feeling she got whenever she was stuck fighting the Mindless, a sort of chill down your spine, as well as the rest of your body for that matter.

She didn't like it in the slightest.

She and Toby kept walking around, taking in the bland yet almost nostalgic scenery. She could see Benny's, the fast food place everyone would go to after school, the strip mall that was right across from the school, and the only bar in town that let high schoolers in.

Yep, Evergreen hills really was something.

"Are you getting anything, Lilith?" Toby murmured, looking as casual as humanly possible when you twitched every two seconds, "Shadow senses tingling yet?"

"No, but why are you asking me?" Lilith grumbled lightly, eyeing the more or less deserted streets.

"You're the one always sensing something." Toby stated.

Not that Lilith could object, he really wasn't wrong.

They wandered over to the bar, the neon sign reading "The Giggling Jackass", some of the letters flickering on and off.

"Truly the very peak of bar titles." Lilith murmured, about to walk past, when that same shiver went down her spine, "Tell me you didn't feel that."

"I didn't feel that." Toby deadpanned.

Lilith rolled her eyes, looking around, when she spotted a small alleyway, right next to the bar, "It's coming from there."

"Lead the way, Ms. Spiritual Buff." Toby giggled, his hand hovering over his concealed hatchet.

Lilith sighed, slowly creeping over, before peeking around the corner.

It was a dead-end alleyway, with three dirty trash cans and a backdoor to the bar. Lilith's nose crinkled, eyeing all the trash on the ground, "Disgusting."

"You say this after we had to clean out LJ's room." Toby teased, before walking in, kicking trash out of the way as he did so, "I mean, god, did you see the gum under his bed? I can understand under a desk, but why the bed?"

"I'm not getting anything anymore," Lilith murmured to herself, ignoring Toby as he proceeded to make a larger mess of the trash heaps, "You?"

"Nothing here." Toby muttered, before shrugging, "Guess you're not as spiritually in tune as I thought you were."

"I'm still the best bet among the four of us, and you know it." Lilith sighed, before rolling her neck, "Come on, let's move on. Maybe, whatever it was, it's on the run."

"Yeh…" Toby muttered, staring at the ground, before kicking over a bit more trash, "Oh shit."

"What?" Lilith asked, slowly climbing over the heaps of trash, walking over to stand up next to him, "Find something?"

"Yeh...Jeez, look." Toby muttered, sweeping the trash to the side with his leg.

Lilith stared at the etched claw marks in the ground, the markings too familiar at this point, "There was one right here." she murmured, watching as Toby kicked away a bit more, "Look, there's some that drag up to the wall."

"Jeez, didn't know that they'd found their way into town." Toby muttered to himself, before looking over the wall that cut off the alleyway, "How do we know that it's still right over there?"

"Look at these marks." Lilith sighed, mindful of her surroundings as she got down on one knee, "There's still concrete dust stuck in the indentations. These are still pretty fresh."

"Huh, okay... Idea!" Toby said, giggling gleefully as he pushed a trash can over, "We take him by surprise! Just jump over the wall, catch 'em right then and there! Then, we can go home and get something to eat!"

Even with the handkerchief over his mouth, she could still sense the drool escaping, "Okay, fine, you're jumping in right after me."

With that, Lilith climbed up into the trash can, crouching and she held her hand out, waiting.

Pressing her ear against the cold wall, she could hear faint yet heavy breathing, accompanied by an almost all too familiar clicking sound, "Yeh, it's there. On my call."

Lilith counted down silently, ripping her sunglasses up before leaping off the trash can lid, hands swinging up to grab her scythe from her rising shadow, before swinging down at full force.

She missed by an inch, the infected one jumping back on all fours, hissing as he did so.

Judging by the clothing, this guy was a homeless person for a long time before being taken over.

This one looked like a rather bad case, his arms looking elongated and spiny, legs looked black, blotchy and broken. His nose and left ear were missing, eyes blacked out, as well as majority of his skin.

Lilith couldn't help but make a face, holding her scythe out, keeping him at a distance, "What a poor soul." Lilith murmured to herself, trying not to make a face at the charred skin.

The man growled, curling and writhing about, before taking a lunge at her. Lilith rolled to the side, swinging her scythe up, only to watch her weapon get caught in the monster's charred back side, "Fuck." She cursed, landing on one knee, before pulling a few knives out of her shoe, "Give it back."

It snarled, about to lunge again, only to stop, staring straight up as Toby descended from the sky, giggling and laughing as if he's been waiting all say for this.

In the confusion, Lilith threw her knives down at the thing's bare feet, trapping it in place as Toby came down on him, the hatchet becoming buried in the thing's head, "Touchdown!"

Lilith didn't care too much to correct the erratic boy, watching him pull the hatchet from the burnt corpse head, before tugging with both hands at her scythe, "Jeez, how the hell do you lift this thing and swing it around like it's nothing!?"

"Practice can get you almost anywhere." Lilith replied, grabbing the scythe, before using it to poke the body, "Strange, normally the body would begin to corrode by now."

"Corrode?" Toby asked, confused as he kicked the body, looking much more interested with the word than the corpse as he turned to look at her.

"You know, to crumble, to disappear, to-Shit, look out!" Lilith shouted, pushing Toby out of the way before dropping her scythe to grab the claws that came right at her, the low growling and clicking making her cringe.

She could feel the blood running down her hands, her vision blurred ever so slightly.

There was something wrong, her hearing seemed off, her vision lagging, almost. She felt cold shivers running up her legs from the ground, as if the shadows were attempting to eat her alive.

It felt weird, it felt wrong.

The body flailed about, one clawed hand stuck in Lilith's trembling grasp, the other thrashing about, cutting up the floor as well as the walls around them.

She could see that, out of her peripheral vision, Toby was hacking away at the body they assumed to be dead, getting one last whack in, before the body finally fell once more.

Lilith huffed, breathing heavily as the clawed hand finally dropped, "And, just for good measure." she muttered, bloody hands gripping her scythe, bringing it down on the neck, neatly decapitating it.

Toby looked like he was about to say something, only to have his jaw drop, cursing as he pulled a spare handkerchief from his pocket, "Crap, Lilith, your leg!"

It was only after she looked down that she noticed the blood gushing from the three gashes tracking up her thigh, "Aww, poop." Lilith sighed, Toby taking his time to attempt to cover up the wound with his handkerchief, only to curse when he realized how small and useless it was.

Just when Lilith assumed it couldn't get much worse than this, she could hear more clicking, "Shit, we've been here for too long, we need to leave now."

"Okay, can you run?" Toby asked.

Lilith attempted to put one foot in front of the other, only to cringe, "No…Shoot, even if I did, I'm sure they could track us down, with all the blood gushing from my leg."

"So, what do you wanna do?" Toby whisper shouted, the clicking getting closer, "Do you plan to teleport over?"

"Yeah...But I gotta take care of this first, or they'll follow us back to the mansion…" Lilith scowled, before pushing herself up, "Go back to the mansion, I've got this under control, I know where to go and what to do."

She didn't wait for Toby to reply, instead pushing past her headache as she pressed her hand to the wall, pushing through the shadow and into the abyss.

* * *

When she came back, she found herself stumbling out of the tree, falling onto the grass.

She knew this place too well, the forest line and hill helping to keep the area secluded from the wandering eyes of others.

In the center of the plain, a small shack stood. She had it built recently, around the beginning of this year. Originally, it was supposed to serve as an escape of sorts, when things back at the mansion proved to be a bit too much. Considering her current predicament, she couldn't help but be grateful that she had this place built by herself, no one else knowing it was out here.

She had to summon her scythe to help her walk, her blood changing the tint of the grass below her.

She was on the other side of town, and she could already hear the clicks and growls of the madness ridden.

She cursed, turning to face the noise, scythe up and out. She felt safer disposing them out here, away from the mansion and everyone else for that matter.

She heard the first one sprinting up the hill before seeing it, scythe held out at the ready. Snapping her fingers, her shadow zipper off the ground, charging right through the body, before Lilith finished it off with a quick decapitation.

Unwilling to make any more stupid rookie mistakes, she made sure to bring the scythe down once more, forcefully separating the torso from the hips and legs. She did her best not to make a face as the dark blood got all over her hands, thank God her hoodie matched the color so nicely.

She was then forced to duck down as another one took a swipe at her, cursing at her leg screeched in agony, before shooting her shadow straight up, splicing the body in half.

With one last wave of her hand, the shadow threw one piece of the corpse to the side, narrowly missing the monsters left standing.

At this point, her breathing had grown heavy, knees shaking from the exertion. She eyed the last three, crawling and writhing as they dashed up the hill, their growls and clicks growing louder.

With a roar of her own, she slammed the butt end of her scythe into the hill, a ripple of dark energy rolling off of her shoulders as her shadow spread, swallowing up all three of them.

Lilith watched as her shadow stretched out, the monsters seemingly sinking into the darkness, before watching the shadow revert and retain its original shape.

Lilith groaned, body suddenly feeling very heavy as she forced herself to take back control. She didn't know she could do that.

Lilith's breathing went from too heavy to distressingly shallow, as she forced herself to turn around, limping over to the shack. She put weight on her scythe, her torn leg having gone numb at this point. Lilith attempted to melt into her own shadow, only to curse when a throbbing headache hit her instead, "What the-?" she grumbled, before coughing violently.

"...What...The actual fuck…"

Lilith froze up, slowly turning back around, only to curse herself, "Damn it." She grumbled lightly to herself, stumbling over as she glared at the shocked teen, leaning in the doorway.

The same boy from the forest fight.

* * *

 **And that's that!**

 **I swear, I get the strangest writer's block. I know what I wanna write, and I have key points, but I have no idea how to string it all together.**

 **I cry.**

 **Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed, feel free to drop me a review (for I live on those), and I'll cya next chappie!**

 **Till then, bai bai!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi hi!**

 **So, I decided to go ahead and check out the Slenderman archive out there, and, umm...We're becoming a dead fandom friends. If it weren't for the Slenderman movie coming out, I'd give us maybe three years before death, tops.**

 **But hey, we're still kicking, so that's something, I guess.**

 **Also, another reason that this took so long was because I've been going back through and lightly editing all of my older stories. I just finished My Shadows, working on Covered in Rose Petals, and when I grow a pair, I'll try to tackle SSBU. I mean, jeez, how did middle school me manage to create such a titan of a story?**

 **Speaking of which, I love it when Nintendo names a game after my fan fiction XD JK.**

 **Have I low-key bitched about that? Yeah, knowing me, I probably have somewhere, but I'll do it again cause that's just me, and I will not be silenced. XD**

 **But yeah, with all that out of the way, ONWARDS!**

* * *

If she was being honest with herself, the shack wasn't her most proud achievement.

It had been built quickly and with little regard to structural integrity; and it showed. The room itself was about as large as her closet, maybe a few square feet wider. The roof still creaked from the wind outside, the floorboards still creaked under even the lightest weights, and it still looked as dirty as ever, no matter how hard she always tried to clean it.

Yep, shack sweet shack.

There was still a small table put off to the side, as well as two small twin cabinets on the floor next to it, as well as a stool and that old milk crate she decided to bring in as a footrest.

She couldn't help but chuckle, it was all the same.

Of course, the only difference now was the forest boy she'd thrown into the wall, scythe held right under his chin, "Oh, shit, damn, God, please don't kill me!"

Now, Lilith wasn't stupid. Coincidences didn't happen, there was a reason for this. Hell, there was always a reason for something, everything led up to something else. He's been around twice now and survived both times.

There had to be something on this kid.

"Name." Lilith growled, before tapping the wall twice. The boy nearly shrieked as his shadow stretched from the wall, wrapping him up and holding him there.

"Oh my God, holy shit, you're not human!"

"If you won't give me a name…" Lilith muttered, before snapping her fingers. The shadow around his neck slithered up, before slapping over his mouth, "Stop making so much noise. You'll attract more of them, and I'm not in the mood to deal with them."

Somehow, his muffled screams served to be even more annoying than his pleas and whimpers of fear.

Finally, after a while, Lilith melted the shadow over his mouth away, "You done crying, or do you plan to waste more of my time with your irritating antics?"

The boy nodded, eyes still wide, as Lilith took a seat on the stool. He could be released when he was deemed trustworthy, "What's your name?" Lilith repeated.

"Dimitri, Dimitri Garrick Akahiro Hart." He squealed out, Lilith swore that he was about to salute or something.

Lilith sized him up for what felt like the hundredth time by now. It still didn't add up to her, how managing to be way some human could escape two run ins with those...those things. Er, now that she thought of it, she guessed the second instance didn't really count, but still.

There was absolutely no trace or sign of any sort of secondhand insanity on him, which only made him look that much more suspicious.

"No, there has to be something on you…" Lilith muttered, more to herself than anyone else, before pulling a knife from her sleeve.

She didn't bat an eye when Dimitri shrieked, "Calm down, it'll be like a tiny paper cut." She muttered, irritation driving the knife into the side of his palm, her other hand coming up to cover his mouth when the screaming and crying got even louder.

She inspected the blade, the pure red that dripped from it, only to scowl, lifting the bottom of her mask up just a bit, just enough to reveal her mouth. Her tongue flicked out, licking the blade.

It looked normal, tastes normal, no traces of anything supernatural whatsoever.

There was no doubt about it, this guy was a full-on, boring, disgusting human.

With a sigh, Lilith released him, not caring as he dropped to the floor, shuddering, "Good for you, you're normal." She muttered, before dropping back down on her chair.

Still though, with that out of the way, she couldn't fight the other questions that began to arise in her head.

As irritating as this kid could be, with all the noise he seemed to like to make, Lilith could admit that there was something interesting about this kid.

There was something off, she knew that much, she just had to figure out what.

Her head flicked up when low clicking was heard, "Not again," Lilith groaned, slowly getting up, doing what she could to ignore the throbbing in her leg, before turning to Dimitri, "You stay in here, got it? Under no circumstances are you to leave."

Lilith leaned in the doorway, looking around the top of the hill, trying to track down the clicking noises. She grabbed her scythe, before walking out, eyes narrowed as she looked around.

She didn't realize it until a dark shadow came over her, cursing to herself before rolling out of the way, a monster dropping from the sky, "Damn, you creeps come out of nowhere!"

The moment that sad blackened body hit the ground, Lilith threw her hand outwards, palm up, attempting to have the shadows rise. All that rose was a dull pain in the back of her head.

No shadow morphing, no cold chills, nothing familiar. Something was up.

She had little to no time to roll to the side, avoiding the monster's grab, only to wince as she was forced to put too much weight on her bad leg.

She groaned, throwing the blade up and out, managing to get it stuck in its shoulder, before jumping back, nearly avoiding another swipe.

She had to leave a note in the back of her head, bring one of these mangled corpses back to the good doctor in the basement.

That was, of course, if she managed to make it back alive. She laughed at herself almost bitterly, claws coming dangerously close to her cheek.

Lilith growled, eyes narrowing with irritation, "You're more irritating than that last homeless one." She growled, before slamming the butt of her scythe into the ground.

She used the leverage to kick her legs up, square into its chest. Before it could recover, Lilith ripped her jacket pocket open, throwing a knife right between the eyes.

It screeched in pain, attempting to remove it, before Lilith jumped at it, throwing her weight behind the hit, forcing the rest of the blade into the forehead.

The creature threw its head back, letting out one last shrill cry, before dropping to the ground.

Lilith didn't realize her breathing was heavy until the adrenaline finally began to die down, and after that, the pulsating pain in her leg decided to explode back into reality, with nothing but pain and agony.

She didn't even wanna look down at the mangled mess that was her limb at this point.

She turned around to walk back to the shack, only to (surprise surprise) have her leg go out on her.

She didn't even notice the support she'd gotten, as she wobbled back to the shack, nor did she realize the gentle push down to sit back down on her stool.

It was only as she heard rustling from next to her that her body began trying to move once more, only to have Dimitri sit her back down.

"No, don't get up, you'll only make your leg worse. Trust me, I've got some stuff in my pack, let me just…Yeh, give me a moment."

Lilith was honestly much too tired to really do anything besides sit there and let him do whatever it was he wanted.

She watched as Dimitri pulled a backpack onto the table, ripping it open, before placing medical supplies onto the table.

She'd helped Dr. Smiley prepare and clean up in his basement, spending more time than she wanted to admit assisting him in cleaning and preparing for what he called "experimental medical procedures". She knew what messy and uncomfortable on a medical table both looked like and felt like, whether she liked it or not.

Even with that said, she still would have preferred the good Doctor over this child.

"Poison me, and you don't make it out on this shack." Lilith spat.

Dimitri made some noise between an affirmative grunt and a scoff, "Believe it or not, I'm not some stupid high school junior, alright?"

"Don't get all snippy with me, kid." Lilith warned, only to quickly back down. He was offering help, after all, and she didn't have a reason not to trust him.

Yet.

Besides, the good Doctor could look her over later if she decided so later on.

The silence seemed to grow into too much, for him at least, "...You already know mine, so...What's your name?" Dimitri asked, pouring some alcohol onto a rag, before running a needle through it.

Lilith only have him a hard look. Not like he could tell, the mask didn't really portray much of anything, "Alright, no, that's cool, you don't have to talk. Sorry, I just...don't like the silence."

Lilith answered with nothing but this much hated silence.

As nice as it was, it wasn't meant to last, "I'm hoping that I can be a doctor one day, and while I don't know much, I have a good idea of how to do stitches."

"I wanna get a scholarship, go to a medical school, and get out of this place." Dimitri went on, before looking over the mangled and bloodied jeans, "Umm, do you mind if I just...You know…"

Lilith sighed, pulling a knife from her jacket, before cutting away the torn-up fabric. Worse came to worse, she could ask Painter and Puppeteer to get her a new pair the next time they went into town.

Lilith tore the rest away, balling it up before shoving it into her pocket, giving him a pointed look when she was done.

"...Right, okay." Dimitri muttered, getting the needle ready, only to pause. Lilith took in the trembling hand and cold sweat down his face, only to groan softly to herself.

If he kept this up, she was just gonna sew her own leg up.

"S-sorry, it's just, umm...I've only ever practice this on cloth, and umm…" Dimitri gulped, tugging on his shirt collar, "I'm told it's pretty painful."

Lilith had half a mind to rip her mask off, tempted to display the pure irritation on her face, before gesturing at the gash in her leg, giving him space to work.

If she could sit through this with her leg like that, she could handle stitches.

When he still didn't move, Lilith scowled, before grabbing his hand, "H-hey, what are you-!"

She didn't blink as she forced the needle to pierce her skin, finally pulling back before giving him a look.

Dimitri gulped, before shaking his head, "Y-yeah...Yeah, okay, sorry about that."

With that out of the way, Dimitri began to slowly but surely stitch her leg back up. All the while, Lilith kept an eye out.

From what she understood, these things seemed able to track by the scent of blood. Hopefully, once she got her leg all patched up, she could go back to the mansion.

"Wow, just, umm...Can I ask a question?" Dimitri asked, taking Lilith's silence as a yes, "What are you?"

Lilith gave him a silent glare, "C-cause I'm Japanese, Russian and a little German. Maybe I'm a bit Polish, I'm not too sure."

Dimitri kept sewing, before speaking up again, "Got family?"

Lilith had arrived at the point where she just tuned him out. As long as he finished this up, she didn't care.

"There's no way that you could be on you own," Dimitri murmured, more to himself than anyone else at this point, "I mean, right?"

When he didn't get any sort of confirmation (not that he was expecting any at this point), he just continued on, "For me, at home, all I got is my mom and my uncle...You got parents?"

Lilith's nails made indents in the table, the low growl telling him off.

"W-w-well...I personally never got to know my father. I love her and all, but, umm...My mom has never really been the best with the whole family thing."

"and don't get me wrong, I really do love her, she's just not...There, all the time, you know?"

Finally, he'd finished the stitch job, patting her leg almost awkwardly, "There ya go, all good and ready to, umm, do whatever you do normally."

Lilith got up silently, making sure her boots were secured, before kicking the door open. Holding her scythe over her shoulder, she looked over her shoulder, "...Lilith."

Dimitri seemed taken aback, "H-huh?"

"You wanted a name, right?" She muttered, "It's Lilith."

"Lilith...Lilith...Okay, yeah, nice name." Dimitri said, smiling, "My name is Dimitri…which you already know...Hehe…" He laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Lilith groaned, rolling her eyes just a bit. She didn't think she'd have another Eyeless phase.

"So, umm...Now what?" Dimitri muttered, suddenly taking intense interest in the old wood boards.

"Now, I do what I was supposed to do the first time." Lilith muttered, "I helped you, and you helped me. We're even, on even ground, and it'll stay that way."

Dimitri only sighed, turning around to face the window. He fiddled with his sleeve, looking out the window as he did, "...You know, Lilith...I know you must be busy with all of your supernatural stuff and all, but...Umm...I just…Damn, how can I say this…"

When he couldn't find the words, he turned around, seeming ready to talk, only to come face to face with an empty doorway, Lilith long gone.

Dimitri took some time to just attempt to level his thoughts, tugging at his shirt collar before laughing to himself, "Why do you do this to yourself, Dimitri?"

* * *

 **God, it's been a hell of a long time.**

 **And I still have to do Remember Me.**

 **Not that I don't want to, I love all my stories and I plan to finish all of them, it's just that...It's weird to come back to after a lot of time, you know? Like, damn, the mix of writer's block and school isn't a good one.**

 **Either way, I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll catch ya all in the next chappie.**

 **Till next time, bai bai!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi hi!**

 **I won't spend too much time up here, lemme just scoot on and let you guys enjoy more of my weird writing.**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

From where he stood, Masky scowled, arms crossed over his chest, "What's taking her so long? I swear, she relies too much on that whole shadow-jumping thing."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're jealous of what she can do and what you can't." Toby snickered, giggling and huffing as he finally tossed the body he'd pulled back up against the outer mansion's wall.

"As if." Masky grumbled, keeping an eye out as if he were waiting for someone to jump out at him, "She's becoming a liability, you know. You don't see it, you and the boss, you're both blinded by all her fancy tricks and shadow bending bull crap."

"That still sounds like a little resentment to me." Toby grinned, snickering only to yelp and duck when an arm was thrown at him, "Oh my God, did you really just pull that guy's arm off! Just to throw it at me?"

"It's not like he was gonna need it anymore." Masky reasoned, dusting his hands off as if it would help get rid of the blood on his gloves, before letting out a loud irritated sigh, "Anyway, where was I?"

"I believe it was at 'fancy tricks' and 'shadow bending bull crap'."

Toby threw his head back with a roar of laughter when Masky jumped, letting out the most unmanly shriek as he did so. Lilith swore that even Hoodie's shoulder shook just a bit as she stepped out of the wall, careful not to put too much weight on her leg just yet, "Do go on, Masky, I'm curious to see what else you can come up with."

"Fuck off." Was her only answer as he shoved his hands into his pockets, "Also, you're late, Toby got here before you did, what the hell is that shit about?"

"I got side-tracked," Lilith muttered, cutting Toby off before he could have a chance to say anything, "But does it really matter? I'm here now, so who cares?"

"Don't get mouthy with me." Masky shot right back, getting all up in her face. Had it not been for the masks they both wore, Lilith was positive the two of them would resemble animals baring their fangs in that moment.

Finally, Masky backed off, "I have better things to do." He thought aloud, before walking off, "Come on, Hoodie. We've got bigger things to finish."

Hoodie nodded, giving Lilith what she could only assume to be some sort of apologetic look, before walking off to follow the other proxy.

"tough crowd, those two." Toby grinned, coming up behind her to pat her on the back, "But, I gotta ask, why'd you have to cut me off like that?"

"If I know anything, it's that you can't tell Masky anything and expect him not to blow it out of proportion and tell everyone." Lilith insisted.

"Okay…But what did happen?" Toby pressed, his curiosity fueling him.

"Don't worry about it." Lilith muttered, pushing past him to walk on, before stopping in the door way, "…You know if the doctor is in?"

"Yeah, he should be in the basement." With that, Lilith entered the mansion, leaving the puzzled Toby outside. Toby couldn't help but feel like he'd just missed something big, a part of his mind lingering on it before he turned to head back out, a sheepish grin on his face.

For you see, he'd left one of his hatchets out there, and he did not want to ask for yet another replacement.

* * *

Lilith stared at the metal door for a few seconds, about ready to knock, only to have the door pushed opened, revealing the doctor in his usual attire, his surgical mask as messy as his coat, "Ah, Lilith, can I help you?"

"If you have time," Lilith said, gesturing to her leg, "I ran into a bit of trouble on my last run."

"Noted," Dr. Smile nodded, before turning around, "Come then, I'm a bit busy with a side project of mine, but you can take the other table, yes?"

"That works with me. Doctor." Lilith insisted, following him down the stairs, doing her best to ignore the sudden pungent stench of rubbing alcohol and bodily fluids as the two of them descended.

"You'll have to excuse the mess," Dr. Smile apologized once they'd reached the bottom, the red mess before Lilith enough to make any normal person want to spew their own gut to match, "Dissection is a lot easier when the body is no longer alive, but I've also come to realize that it is not nearly as interesting, nor fun."

"The las thing I plan to do is come down here and make fun of your favorite past time, Doctor." Lilith insisted, avoiding the red that had gotten on the floor, before jumping up to sit down on the other metal table, "I take it that this one wasn't too cooperative with you?"

"When are they ever?" Dr. Smile replied, before walking around to one of his shelves, "Even when they're already dead, humans seem to have this uncanny ability to still be irritating, even when their soul has abandoned their husk. While it is a bit amusing at first, it has quickly become no more than a bother."

"That's humans for you." Lilith mumbled in agreement, before lifting her offending leg for the doctor to see.

"Hmm…This stitching job isn't half bad…If I ignore certain aspects of it, that is." Dr. Smile murmured, setting what Lilith could only assume to be his own first aid kit on the table next to her, "It's still quite messy though."

"Not all of us can be geniuses as sewing back our skin, Doctor." Lilith grinned, before being forced to wince when Dr. Smile tugged at one of the stitches.

"I assume that's the only reason I'm kept around these days." Dr. Smile said, feinting sadness, before pulling a pair of scissors out of the kit, "I need to remove and reapply a few of these, but other than that, you need nothing but a quick cleaning."

"Sounds good." Lilith muttered, attempting to keep herself distracted by watching the red drip from the top of the other table's surface. The messy clump of flesh that was still no it seemed to be a chest cavity, not that Lilith could really tell, but it was the best educated guess she could make at the moment.

"I take it you've never stitched yourself back up?" Dr. Smile inquired, placing the scissors down for a bit to thread the needle.

"I have once or twice, not nearly enough to warrant me skilled in any matter." Lilith admitted, eyes instantly narrowed. She saw what he was doing, friend or not, she wasn't a fool.

"I see…" Dr. Smile muttered, tugging at another stitch, "Either way, these seem decent enough. Now, if you don't mind me asking, exactly what happened for an injury like this to occur?"

"A Mindless attacked Toby and I." Lilith said, fingertips dancing across the table's surface, "I bought him time to get back to the mansion. I planned to lead them away and teleport back, but for some reason, I couldn't at the moment."

"Interesting…" Dr. Smile muttered, before standing abruptly, "Just a moment…I need to find something…" He muttered, before disappearing back into his shelves. Lilith took the time to lean back a bit, mind racing a bit more than she'd like to admit.

Dr. Smile wasn't dumb, if anything, she could argue that he was the smartest one living under the mansion's roof. But, with that said, if she confirmed what he most likely thought in any shape, way, or form, there was little to no doubt that he'd go straight to Slender with that kind of information.

Lilith couldn't allow that. As much as she didn't care for humans, she did have a code of honor to stand by. She'd helped him, he'd helped her; they were even.

Finally, Dr. Smile reemerged, notebook in hand, "Ah, that must mean that the hypothesis is correct…" He muttered, jotting something down, before turning back to her, "You said that you couldn't teleport back earlier, correct?"

"Correct."

"And based on what information I got out of Shad earlier, I do believe that I am correct." Dr. Smile murmured, writing a bit more down, before looking back up to face her, "I theorize that Shades are not as invincible as they seem. For example, Shad has told me that if a Shade is in a lot of pain while also under stress, especially if not trained, it becomes harder for them to use their abilities."

"That would explain a bit."

"Every bit of information counts at this point, Lilith," Dr. Smile muttered, before going back to stitching her leg, "You may not know this, but with all of this business of Zalgo and his half-baked psychotic Shade out there, I do believe that the more information we have on Shades, the better."

"I can agree to that logic."

"As much as I do respect Slender, I must lean more towards with Shade on this predicament. We must take action, but it must be measured." At this point, it sounded as if Dr. Smile was almost venting, all of his words flowing out with a bit more force, "We must think before we act, and we must collect all the information possible before thinking."

"If it would help you, I would not mind helping you discover more." Lilith offered, "I myself have a lot to learn as well."

"Yes, with you and Shad, I'm sure to acquire something of use." Dr. Smile said, almost muttering it to himself, before nodding, "If possible, I also plan to learn more about these Mindless."

"Anything specific?" Lilith asked.

"As much as I can find out." Dr. Smile answered, wiping a clean rag over her leg, before stepping back to admire his work, "You are good to go."

"Thank you for your time, Doctor." Lilith said, getting off of the table, before heading for the doorway.

"Lilith!" Dr. Smiled stopped her, "Before you leave, might I give you a recommendation?"

"Of course." Lilith said, turning to face the Doctor as he began to clean up the mess on the other table, "What might it be?"

"Humans should only be kept as test subjects. Getting closer would risk yourself in the process, and things like that always lead to a messy affair. Do you understand me?"

"Of course, Doctor." Lilith said, giving one last nod, before ascending back up the stairs.

She couldn't help but shiver as she walked back up, as if a cold hand were being pressed lightly against her back and refused to leave.

* * *

After preforming a quick raid on the fridge, she headed back up to her room. Being how the day's events had gone, she would have been more than happy had she been given some sweet alone time to herself.

Of course, being how her luck normally went, it was of little to no surprise when she spotted a hooded figure standing before her room door, "Can I help you?"

"Actually, I was hoping that I could help you." Was Shad's reply, his head looking from left to right, before leaning forward to whisper, "Do you mind if we take this into your room?"

"Not at all." Lilith said, all senses spiking. She couldn't help it, the only other Shade she'd ever known was a psychotic killer, the atmosphere around this guy was quickly giving her the chills.

Once the door was closed behind the two of them, Shad let out a sigh, reclining on the only chair in the room, pulling his hood down as he did so. He regarded her, still motionless in front of her door, before a grin came to his face, "There's no reason to be so stiff, little princess."

"…Sure." Was all Lilith managed, her mind racing a million miles per second, refusing to budge from the spot in front of her door.

"Don't worry, I get it." Shad said, hands up in mock surrender, "And I don't blame you for it, honest. The only other Shade you've met is both murderous and deranged."

"...This is true, yes." Lilith muttered, slowly walking over to her bed. She wasn't sure if his easy analysis of her should have been as disturbing as it felt.

"Yes…But might I make a comment?" Shad asked, watching as Lilith sat down, leaning forward in order to hear him better.

Lilith let out a strangled breath as something wrapped around her neck, not tight enough to hurt, but with enough strength to make its presence known. In that second, it felt as if lights flashed before her eyes, those cold shivers evolving into the feeling of being submerged is freezing water.

"If I wanted you dead, you'd already be long gone."

The moment that the tendril tightened, even if just a bit, Lilith's brain went into overdrive. Adrenaline began to pump through her veins, her fight-or-flight mode going all out. She was so focused on attempting to keep her mind in one piece, she didn't notice the way that the room seemed to shake a bit, nor did she finally notice when the shadowy tendril around her neck slipped right off.

"Didn't mean to give you such a scare, little princess." Shad murmured, a sly smile on his face as he flicked his wrist. Just like that, the threat that Lilith's shadows held dissolved in an instant, the room returning back to its usual color and grace.

"…H-how did you…" Lilith muttered, trying hard not to allow her shock to show through.

"Being one of the strongest Shades out there, I've learned a trick or two when it comes to dealing with my kind." Shad couldn't help but grin, taking in her expression as if there were no mask to cover it, "Not to say I'm the strongest around, but I am pretty high up there."

"Was there a reason for that?" Lilith growled softly, hand out and at the ready, just in case. Even with what she put up with on a daily basis, that did not mean her heart could withstand another near heart attack.

"Yes, actually." Shad said, groaning as he rose from the chair, sizing Lilith up for a second, "I wanted to make sure that my original assumption was correct. You, little princess, are a ticking time bomb."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Shad said, tugging a bit at the top of his hood, "I won't lie, for a Shade that hasn't had too much practice, you're not too shabby when it comes to your skill. But, that does not make you safe. If anything, you're more of a danger to both yourself and the others around you."

"I've gotten better." Lilith shot back. She remembered how it went when she'd first unlocked her power, it had not been a good day, "I can use them, they can't overcome me anymore. They'll never overcome me again."

"But you could do so much more." Shad pushed, before walking to lean on the wall, "You've just barely begun to scratch the surface of what you could do. And, if my earlier test said anything, you could use a bit more control."

"You attacked me out of nowhere, and I moved to defend myself." Lilith deadpanned.

"But it didn't take much for me to overpower your shadows." Shad countered, before placing a hand on his face, "Let me just cut to the chase."

"About time."

"I want to help you." Shad offered, before snapping his fingers. His own shadow slipped up his arm, as if being sucked up by a straw, before wrapping around him, the top forming the head of a snake, "Us Shades are about to accomplish some pretty impressive feats, but you haven't even begun to unlock all that potential."

"I can teach you to free your power, guide it, and control it." Shad said, before chuckling, the snake around his arm copying his movements, "I'd assume that you need the most help with number three, little princess?"

"…What's in it for you?" Lilith finally asked, eyes narrowing.

"I beg a pardon?"

"What are you getting out of this?" Lilith pushed once more, "You're willing to help me, but there must be some sort of drawback, some sort of cost. You're going to help me control my powers, but what's your angle one this?"

Shad stared at her for a moment, before chuckling to himself, allowing the snake to wrap itself back around his neck like some sort of scarf, "Intelligent little thing, aren't you?"

"flattery will get you nowhere." Lilith replied curtly, fingers tugging at her hair absentmindedly, "And now you're dodging the question. The mask doesn't make me blind."

"…Has Slender ever told you about R?"

"Who?"

"I guess not then." Shad sighed, rubbing the back of his head, "Damn, has Slender told you nothing?"

"You can't expect him to tell his proxy everything." Lilith noted.

"Yeah, well that doesn't…You know what, no, fine, whatever then." Shad sighed, rubbing his forehead, "R was what we called the Shade that use to live here. To put it shortly, he was never really in control. And, well, one day, his own power ate him from the inside out. Trust me when I say it wasn't a pleasant sight."

He then took Lilith's hands into his own gently, like a parent would with their child, "You want to know what my motives are, little princess? Simple, I want you to live. I know what is to come, you'll be challenged by Zalgo and Lizzie again and again, until they've obtained what they're looking for. I don't know when and I don't know where, but it's coming. I want you to be prepared, whether Slender approves of it or not."

Try as she might, she knew that Shad was right. If Lizzie would go that far to get her once, there was little to no chance that she wouldn't go that far again.

Lizzie on her own was a big risk, but if she were to come back and wreak havoc…Lilith couldn't help but feel like that would land on her.

"I understand if this is a lot to take in, and I don't want to pressure you. Just come to me when you're-."

"When do we start?"

* * *

 **I'll be honest, this is the first story where I've decided to really step back and write this plot all out. Not just write a brief summary of what goes on in each chapter like I've done in the past, but I've basically taken to going into detail on how I want a chapter to go. Granted, I'm not finished yet, but this is the first time I haven't only used what was in my head at the moment.**

 **Won't lie, it's kinda weird writing it all out and not going off from the top of my head and a straight-line plot, but I guess it doesn't help me plan ahead if I'm honest. Even if it's a bit off for me, I'll try this out for the rest of this story.**

 **Anywho, that's all I've got for today, so I'm out.**

 **Till next chappie, bai bai!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi hi!**

 **I figured out that I like the format of most notes at the end of the chapter.**

 **So that's what I do.**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Being how they'd been at it for a good two hours now, it was a sheer miracle that the backyard was still in decently good shape.

"You're getting better, but you have to focus more."

"Dully noted." Lilith grumbled, careful not to allow any venom to leak into her words. She never thought that something as simple as channeling…Whatever this was would be this difficult.

Her breath went from calm and smooth to harsh and almost jittery.

Lilith held her hands out in a cup-like figure, holding it out straight in front of her. There were flickers of black light here and there, but other than that, there was little to nothing there.

"Steady your breathing. If you can't control it, you'll end up fainting."

"Noted." Lilith grunted, her teeth grinding from the sheer force she was attempting to control. It felt as if there was something inside of her that was fighting to explode, and if she didn't concentrate, she'd be blown up from the inside out.

"If you keep making that weird look on your face, it's gonna get stuck like that."

Lilith cursed, feeling as if she was about to implode, before finally giving it up. She threw the almost none-existent ball away from her and into the cluster of trees.

She was far past wincing when the sphere collided with the tree, causing yet another explosion sending up dirt, roots and some of that black murk up into the air, causing the air around them to become stocked with crap. She looked down to her fingers, attempting to control the shaking in her fingers.

"…You lost focus." Shad noted, looking over the newly created crater, not that it would look out of place at this point. Most of the trees had been all but decimated.  
"Yeah, I can't begin to imagine why." Lilith growled, ripping her mask off. Wasn't like he hadn't seen her face before, and it got hard to breathe deeply with it on.

She breathed in the cold air, "Your focus needs more focus." She glared straight at him, eyepatch doing nothing to lessen the tension, "…Fine, we'll back track a bit, don't worry about it."

Lilith offered nothing but a grunt, walking over to a flat-surfaced rock, before taking a seat on it. For the first time in a long time, she had this intense need to rip off her hoodie, anything to alleviate the heat that was coming off of her skin.

Shad offered her a bottle of water, "We'll take a break, for now." He murmured, taking a seat next to her. They sat in silence as Lilith chugged the cool water, nearly drenching her face when she moved to pull the bottle away too quickly, wiping her mouth as she did so.

"…Is there something on my face?" Lilith asked pointedly, giving him a blunt look. She could have sworn that it was really cold, but if the jacket on her back and sweat on her forehead said anything, she must have been just imagining things.

"No…you just look a little red is all." Shad murmured, eyes narrowing in thought, before he snapped his fingers, "Ah, you're going into penumbra shock."

"I swear you're making this up as we go." Lilith scowled.

"I'm just going along with the names this stuff has been given." Shad said, hands up in surrender, "But your body isn't used to pushing yourself this hard with your power, so it's going into shock and freezing up, in a way. Just wait for it to pass."

"How can you be so sure I'm going into…Whatever you called it?" Lilith couldn't help but retort.

"Let's see…Is it getting hard to breathe?"

"That's a given-."

"Do you feel like your body is both too hot and too cold?"

"Well, I mean-."

"Are you shaking?"

"…Whatever." Lilith muttered, going back to her water bottle.

"That seems to be your favorite word, huh?" Shad said, tone almost teasing.

"I will hurt you."

"Ah, and your favorite phrase? I must be one hell of a lucky person, huh?" Shad laughed. It almost physically hurt how Shad was trying to force this air of ease down on the both of them. Lilith knew it, he knew it, and at this point, she was pretty sure that anyone that was watching them from the mansion's windows knew it as well.

Finally, the silence grew awkwardly long, "…Anything else I should be worried about?" Lilith asked, "You know, any sort of…side effects to all of this?"

"Nothing you can't handle, I'm sure." Shad assured, "I mean, you've never gone through aphotic discharge, have you?"

"Again, with the made-up words?"

"My bad, my bad…Okay, have you ever had your limbs begin to turn black?"

"Umm…Yeah, no, not yet." Lilith said, finally managing to get her breathing under control, "What do you mean by black?"

"Exactly what black means," Shad replied, giving her a pointed look, "Normally, it begins at the fingers or the toes, and after a few days, you'll either lose feeling or the body part as a whole. If you're incased, you die."

"…Well, okay then." Lilith murmured, just a little lost, "And how does aphotic discharge happen?"

Shad took a moment to situate himself, rubbing his hands as he did so, "How do I explain this…Okay, I don't have the exact definitions and whatnot on me, but I'll do my best to explain."

"Shades in general are very strong, but we can only draw so much power from Zalgo's realm at a time. Some Shades go too far, drawing too much while in the mortal world, that it begins to eat them up from the inside until nothing is left. That's Aphotic Discharge. There's just so much energy used that the body of the Shade, as well as the Shade themselves, will begin to die and wither away."

"That's…Only a little eerie." Lilith muttered, more to herself than anyone else, before giving him a side look, "Okay, but say I were using my power in Zalgo's realm…"

"You'd have an unlimited supply." Shad finished, "In Zalgo's realm, Shades have immeasurable power. That's probably the reason that they don't leave, they're so use to using as much as they want that they never want to leave."

"That makes sense…" Lilith muttered, running a hand through her hair. Damn, she really had to get it cut soon, any longer and it could become a liability, "So why is it that I can teleport in and out, grab things, and use the shadows to attack, but I haven't had this…Aphotic Discharge?"

"You have to do a whole lot more than actions as mundane as that."

"So, when you say I've barely scratched the surface..."

Suddenly, Shad rose all too quickly, nearly making Lilith fall over when he did, "There's a lot more to being a Shade then just popping in and out where ever you please." He said, his tone almost derogatory, before cracking his fingers, "Wanna see my magic trick?"

Lilith couldn't help but scoff slightly at those words, a small tired smirk making its way onto her face, "You don't have to say 'magic' to get my attention, you know. I'm not a kid."

"Only a kid would say that." Shad chided, before holding both hands out.

At first, Lilith saw nothing, her irritation slowly building as the chance of her being duped began to increase, but it was quickly put to rest when a…wait…

"What the hell…" Lilith muttered, watching as Shad began to open…something. He was holding both palms away from each other, as if gripping two invisible walls in order to force something open. As his hands slowly shifted away from each other, a portal- no, a rip of some kind began to appear.

Lilith shivered violently, as waves of something began to seep out of the tear, red demon eyes beginning to blink from the other side. As dark as it was, she felt something staring right back.

The ground around him turned lost color, but not just from the shadows that were surrounding Shad. No, it looked as if the life was being sucked out of the ground, the grass going from green, to brown, and then black.

Finally, after taking in a long breath, Shad's hands slapped back together, closing the rift quickly, "That is what we call the Sable Void." Shad explained, "You could call it a portal straight to hell, to summarize things nicely." His nearly breathless voice being the only indication that he'd exerted himself in any shape, way or form.

That, and the circle of dead grass around him.

"So, I'm over here trying to make dark shadow balls when I could open a portal into the underworld?" Lilith murmured, her eyes incredulously wide, "…Are you fucking serious?"

"Remember what I said about Aphotic Discharge?" Shad muttered, plopping back right down next to her, "That is a sure-fire way for a Shade to contract it. It'll kill someone who can't do it right."

"…That makes sense." Lilith muttered, before an idea stuck her mind. Before she could really give herself time to think more so on it, her mouth was already spewing words, "So, Aphotic Discharge can kill a Shade?"

"That is what I just said, isn't it?"

"Is there any other way to kill a Shade?"

Shad sat there, his spine going rigged for just a moment, before he murmured, "Exponentia Luminis."

"…What?"

"There is one way for someone, anyone really, to kill a Shade." Shad explained, rubbing the back of his neck, "There's a lot of prep work that's included with this and all of that, and of course there are other ways to kill a Shade, but this is the only way that will destroy a Shade for sure."

"And I'm guessing that this way of killing a Shade is called…Umm…" Lilith muttered, drawing a blank in that moment.

"Exponentia Luminis." Shad repeated, a small snicker caught in his throat, "It's Latin."

"Of course, it is." Lilith grumbled lowly, "Why is everything in Latin?"

"It lightly translates into 'Spell of Light'. Stupid, if you ask me, but I wasn't the one to discover it, so I guess I don't get to name it." Shad murmured, before rubbing the back of his head, "Let me think…It's been a while since I've seen the book, but I think that I can recall some of the things you need right off of the top of my head."

"Book?"

"Yeah, but it's really more of a diary than a book." Shad said, "But yeh, the diary is something that you need, since it has Exponentia Luminis on it."

"Okay…What else do you need?" Lilith pushed, watching Shad with a careful look. She wasn't blind, she could see that he was trying to hide something. But, at the same time, she wasn't detecting any lies.

"You'll also need the target's name," Shad added, "That's an important one. Without it, the spell could go haywire, going as far as zipping off to eliminate some other Shade. I've seen it happen once before; really wasn't a pretty sight."

His tone did nothing to hide the slight disgust on his face, as if recalling a rather abhorrent memory. Not that Lilith could judge, she had enough of those to spare.

"I guess I'll just have to take your word for it, huh?" Lilith said lightly, attempting her best comforting smile. She was sure that she looked like a cat slowly being gutted, but hey, it's the thought that really counts, right? "What else do I need?"  
"Last but not least, you need a blood-bound weapon." Shad murmured, before looking to her, "Like that scythe of yours."

"What makes it a blood weapon?" Lilith questioned, head tilted to the side, before throwing one hand out to the side. The ground melted into black for a split second, before her scythe shot right up, the hilt held tightly in her hand as her head spun just a bit more.

"No, a blood weapon and a blood-bound weapon are two very different things." Shad murmured, holding his hand out for the scythe, "May I?"

Lilith handed the weapon over, her other hand still placed on her forehead, "Ah, I seem to have been mistaken."

"What?"

Shad ran his hand over the side of the blade, eyebrows knit together with confusion, "Your scythe doesn't have its name yet."

"Well, I've never really stopped and decided to give it one." Lilith deadpanned, giving him an odd look.

"Someone has quite the mouth on her." Shad tsked, shaking his head as he ran his hands down the blade, treating it like a baby or a puppy of sorts, "And that's not how the process works."

"Your weapon won't be blood-bound until you're able to summon your Wraith."

"Oh my, look at this, yet another edgy label for something dark and mysterious." Lilith said, throwing her hands up in fake amusement.

"Someone's been spending too much time around Jeff and Tim." Shad muttered, giving her a look.

"Wait…Who's Tim?"

"Don't worry about it." Shad said, waving it off, before brushing his hand across the air. Lilith was sure that she blinked and missed it, as when his hand came back down, a small dagger rested in his hands, "This beautiful blade is named Serenity."

The dark blade seemed to glimmer at the sound of its own name, the handle wrapped in expensive-looking leather.

"Cute name for something so wicked-looking."

"Hush now, little princess." Shad complained, giving Lilith back her scythe, before gripping the handle. He brought the blade down, swiping the knife through the air, leaving a trail of black to follow it.

Lilith watched as the residue shadow slowly morphed to connect and take shape, and before she knew it, a familiar snake-looking shadow had curled itself around Shad, "I know that you've already met Azna."

"That's your Wraith?" Lilith asked, just a little impressed.

"Think of a Wraith as a sort of spirit animal." Shad grinned, cooing softly as he rubbed the Wraith under its chin, "It's like the ultimate way of knowing yourself, and that on its own is important for a Shade to wield. You won't be able to know yourself, your limits and your skill, until you're able to summon and command your Wraith."

"Alright…But how do I do it?" Lilith asked, subconsciously keeping a wary eye on the shadow snake, the black and white scales a deep contrast to the deep red eyes it possessed. For something so evil looking, the Wraith seemed to be more than cuddly with Shad, "Is there a command I have to know? Some sort of skill I have to invoke?"

"No, not really." Shad said, looking over his Wraith, before shrugging, "There's no real way for me to explain it. You just…Summon it, and it appears."

"…'Summon it and it appears'?" Lilith repeated, expression somehow growing even more lifeless, "Alright, thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it."

"No need to be a dick about it." Shad sneered, the snake hissing in agreement with its owner, "There really is no sure-fire way I know of that will force your Wraith to appear."

"Well, how did you get to summon yours?" Lilith asked.

Shad looked down at his knife, thinking long and hard, before finally speaking, "It happened in a time I needed it. I was in a tight situation, I'm talking life or death, and I was all out of tricks. Normally, I don't use my knife, but I was desperate, and it was all I had. I swung, and before I knew it, Azna jumped out of nowhere and saved my life." Shad said, patting the top of the snake's head affectionately, "From that point on, my knife became blood-bound and I've had Azna ever since."

Lilith thought on it, staring at the scythe in her hands. She'd seen a lot of shit in the past year, most of which while swinging her scythe around like a madman. If that wasn't enough to summon her Wraith…She wasn't sure what was.

"…What else do I need?" Lilith pushed on. It was a problem that could be solved at a later date.

"…Umm…Nah, that's it. You only need those three things, really." Shad murmured, before shrugging, "Honestly, if we ignore the name, which should be a given, getting your hands on the diary should be the easiest part."

"What makes you say that?" Lilith asked, slowly rising back to her feet, leaning heavily on her scythe when the world began to spin a bit too fast again.

"Well, last I checked, the diary was being safely kept in Slender's office."

* * *

From where he stood in his office, he could easily spot the two Shades taking a break. He stood there, silent, unmoving.

Part of it bothered him, really. As much as he didn't want to acknowledge it, there was a small ball of worry that was welling up from deep inside of him.

Was it because she'd gone around him? No, she hadn't…Not really, that was. She was just seeking someone out, someone like herself, in order to control herself.

If anything, he should have been elated. Lilith was no normal proxy, that much was obvious. There was…something more there, and he wasn't just thinking about that specific night.

It had been…No, he didn't have time to dwell on that. Not right now.

Looking out the window, he dawned on him where the unease as coming from. He was watching history repeat itself, right through the window.

* * *

 **I love doing expositoring!**

 **Also, I don't grammar rightly.**

 **Wow, maybe I should go to school one day and learn, huh?**

 **Also, I know that I haven't been updating at all in the past however long it has been, I'm sorry, I've been forced to spend time learning to adult. I'm sure we all know, but just in case, it sucks shit and I'd like to revert to the olden times please.**

 **Also also, I know I usually at least try to put up holiday pieces and whatnot, but this year I probably won't. In fact, this may be the last update for the year. I don't know, don't quote me on this, just don't be surprised if this is all you get.**

 **...Assuming anyone is still here anymore. Hell, I mean, I'm pretty sure I just post this for my own personal amusement at this point.**

 **Anyway, self-loathing aside, I hope you all enjoyed this chappy, and I'll catch ya next time!**

 **Till then, bai bai!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi hi!**

 **God, I didn't think that this would take so long, like damn. I hate to admit that this story has taken A LOT of rewrites. Like, damn, I thought I had a story written out, and now it's trying to write itself.**

 **Please God send help.**

 **Anywho, enough of that, let's get on with it.**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

"…Hey! You still with us, or what?"

Lilith shook herself from the daze, rolling her neck as she fell back into pace with Painter, "Yeah, my bad, I just got lost in thought."

"You've been doing that often as of late." Painter noted, the two of them lingering behind Puppeteer, who had either seen something interesting and wandered off, or had somehow gotten lost once more.

"I've had a lot to think on as of late." Lilith shrugged, one hand coming up to rub the back of her neck, the other busying itself by adjusting her mask.

"Oh? Pray tell, what could be bothering you this badly?"

"You make it sound as if I do not get disturbed easily."

"When someone who dismembers people without blinking an eye says that there is something bothering them, I tend to listen a little closer." Painter noted, looking like he was about to go on, only to have Puppeteer slide right back into the conversation.

"You guys know if Slender has any real 'main goal' for us while we do these surveillance walks?" He asked, his tone dripping with raw uninterest, eyes seeming more glazed over than usual, "I mean, I know that we're supposed to keep a lookout and all that good stuff, but is that it? Cause, if so, I'm this close to turning around and saying that there's nothing worthwhile out here."

"Being how things are right now, constant watch teams rotating on the clock are necessary." Painter stated in that borderline know-it-all tone, back seemingly straightening up as he walked on, "If anything, we should have more than just forest watch teams, but that's just my opinion."

"But I'm so bored!" Puppeteer grumbled, hands crossed over his chest with a small pout, "No wonder Slender usually makes his proxies do this kind of thing."

"For the record, when I get sent out, I enjoy it." Lilith added, slowly falling back into the ease of the conversation, "It's so nice and quiet, a nice change from how things are in the mansion."

"Besides, with how all this Mindless activity is going, we have to keep a level head and an alert mind." Painter muttered, a hand instinctively going back to his pocket, just ghosting over it, "We need to be on the ready."

"You don't have to sound so serious all the time." Puppeteer spat, almost childish as be floated back up ahead, seemingly done with Painter's "serious-ness", "I mean, come on man, you sound like a grim sports announcer ALL the time."

Choosing to tune out their babble, Lilith looked around, doing anything to keep her mind off of the present moment. It had been a long time since she'd last felt physically and mentally exhausted, but today just seemed to be one of those days. It didn't help when the winter sky had no sun just yet, nothing but black hues and a few clouds here and there.

The wind sounded as if it were whispering to her, coaxing her with its wispy tones, the sound feeling as if it was attempting to resonate with her being.

Something was...calling out to her...

"Now that the insufferable man-child is out of the way," Painter muttered, voice snapping Lilith out of her little trance, "What's been on your mind?"

Lilith, mind having been blank at that moment, could only cock her head to the side, "…Huh?"

"Don't think that I forget things so easily." Painter chided, flicking the nose of her mask as a mother would do to her child, "I'm not so easily deflected."

"Unlike Puppet, it would seem." Lilith said, attempting to pull her head back together.

"You're trying to do it again." Painter reproached, but Lilith could hear the slight grin under his own mask, "Now then, back to the matter at hand; what is it that could be bothering you?"

"…It's this whole Lizzie business." Lilith admitted, fingers fiddling with fingers as she walked on, matching pace with Painter, "It's got me a bit…on edge. Shades in general are raising some mental red flags at the moment."

"I've noticed." Painter muttered, not quite letting on exactly what he meant, before looking ahead, "…Is it because of Shad?"

"It's more so what he's said rather than what he is." Lilith sighed, feeling the tension shoot off of her like sparks, "He's opened my eyes, I guess you could say. He's bringing to light a whole bunch of things I never knew to control, and then there's the stuff that I've never even heard of!"

"It's a lot of information to take in, I'm sure." Painter insisted, doing his best to soothe her, "Don't beat yourself up over it if you're not able to understand fully just yet. He's only been here for about two days; I'm sure that, with time, you'll be able to understand better."

"I don't know what gives me more of a headache," Lilith groaned, "The parts I don't understand, or the parts that I do understand."

"…You've lost me."

"I think I lost myself as well in that process." Lilith had gone from fiddling with her own fingers to almost nervously tugging at the sleeves of her hoodie, "There's just a lot of information for me to take in. Of course, all the training and whatnot really does help me out a lot, but it also opens a bunch of new doors that could lead to disaster, you know?"

"I…think I understand?" Just from how he phrased his sentence, Lilith could tell that she'd just made him even more confused.

"Don't worry about it," Lilith grumbled, waving it off quickly, "The longer I go on, the more confused I get."

"Now that's no way for you to absolve a problem." Painter tsked, shaking his head, "…You know what you need to learn to do?"

"A lot, apparently."

"You need to learn to take a step back." Painter insisted, taking a moment to flick his hand from off to the side, most likely attempting to kill some wandering bug, "You're looking at every little detail too closely. You get absorbed in the small things too quickly, and before you know it, you spiral."

"I don't see how noticing and looking for the small things hurts." Lilith said bluntly, taking a moment to watch the sun slowly rise from the mountains, the morning haze leaving to make way for the sunlight, "Besides, if I'm not noticing everything, than I'm just lost in thought for hours."

"You don't see the big picture." Painter further explained, "You'll take so much time with details, you won't see the big picture before it's too late."

"…Is this some sort of art metaphor?" Lilith couldn't help but grin, poking fun at the artist next to her, "I swear to God, that's got to be some sort of art metaphor."

"You're just a master of verbal misdirection today, aren't you?"

Lilith shrugged, "Well, forgive my mind for not wanting to stay stuck on that topic right now."

Painter looked like he was about to attempt to pry in more, only to sigh, "You're too stubborn for your own good," Painter voiced, backing off from one topic in order to tackle another, "That's gonna get you killed one day."

"I'd like to see it try," Lilith muttered, about to go on, her steps leaving her a pace behind Painter, head staring up at the sky through the leaves of the trees above them, "With all the crap Shad laid out for me, I'd be surprised is something as natural as that will be the end of me."

"Knowing your luck, you'll be killed by something stupidly normal," Painter said, a low snicker weaving its way into his voice, "Like old age, or heart attack."

"Proxies don't get to age, genius." Lilith grumbled, "I'm going to look nineteen forever. As for death by heart attacks…Well, if were possible for me, I don't think I'd still be standing right now."

"Noted."

The two fell back into a comfortable silence, nothing but the cool breeze and rustling of leaves to break the serene moment. Honestly, Lilith needed more of this. Moments where there's no running for your life, no fighting for survival, true peace and quiet.

"Hey, is there a reason you two intend on staying so far behind!?"

"Can't you just stay quiet and enjoy a single moment of ataraxia?" Painter grumbled, shooting him what Lilith could only assume was a pointed look.

"You know I don't understand old man lingo." Puppeteer said, a slight snicker in his voice.

"Seriously, is that a real word?" Lilith added, unable to withhold the small smile forming on her face, "I don't feel like that's a real word."

"Ataraxia: a synonym for peace and quiet, another way of saying tranquil." Painter established.

"Thank you for that definition, Mr. Wikipedia." Lilith couldn't help the giggle from that one, Puppeteer's face also lighting up, "Look at that, I got the statue to laugh."

"Yes, what a major step for all of supernatural kind." Lilith shot right back, her tone a mix of a snicker and a snarl.

"Keep it down."

"Aww, don't be like that, Painter!" Puppeteer grinned, poking Painter's mask, "You're just salty because you can't-."

"No, seriously, shut it."

Puppeteer looked like he was about to tease him, just a bit more, only to have Lilith step in, "You hear that?"

At first it was nothing more than some odd leaves rustling where there was no wind. But that slowly grew into the low and familiar clicks that sent shivers down her spine.

"What are they doing so close to the mansion?" Painter hissed, moving to cover behind a tree, "Last time Masky went out, he said he had set the perimeter up. There should be no way for them to get in!"

"That explains it." Lilith muttered, crouching low to the ground, ducking behind the shifting cover that the bushes gave, "I'm counting at least five, maybe more. It's hard to tell from here, they're all too close to each other."

"We could totally make this nice and quick," Puppeteer muttered from his spot next to Lilith, his beanie almost peering out from under the leaves, "Hopefully."

"We can't kill them here," Painter muttered, "they're too close. What happens if others come through the same way?"

"You think we should try to lead them off or something?" Puppeteer asked.

"Well, being how they're good at tracking themselves and all that, I'd assume that that might be the smartest plan we've got." Lilith said softly, eyes trained on their shambling bodies as those Mindless husks walked pass, gagging slightly as the wind pushed past, "God, I've never noticed the smell."

"Now that you've brought it up, it is very…distinct, isn't it?" Puppeteer shuddered.

"Focus, please."

"Right. Sorry, mom." Puppeteer replied, a snicker laced into his tone, "Anyway, we're going to need someone to lead them far off."

"I did that last time." Painter hissed, giving them both (what Lilith could only assume to be) a pointed look, "One of you step up."

"Well, being how I don't have anything that they could be after…" Puppeteer inquired, grinning as he gestured to his translucent figure, leaving it open with nothing but a knowing smile as he gave Lilith a knowing look.

"If you wanted me to do it, you both could have just asked in the first place." Lilith muttered, slowly crouching a little lower.

Every sense seemed to bristle, standing straight up no end as Lilith concentrated. She wanted it to be quick and clean…

Of course, given her company, the chances of obtaining what she wanted were far from realistic.

Without a second thought, Lilith shot straight up, both arms held down with palms open and out. The moment one of their heads whipped around, it let out an unholy screech, jaw unhinging as the others followed in suit, "How discordant." Lilith grumbled, their shared shriek making her wince ever so slightly.

Lilith snapped both fingers, pushing both hands away as she did so. The shadows of the trees around them leapt from their place, effectively pushing them all back a good ten feet.

"Lead them East, we'll set up there." Painter said, dashing past the distracted Mindless, Puppeteer not too far behind, "Hopefully a mile or so is far enough."

"Got it." Lilith grumbled, more to herself than anyone else, as she stood her ground. The moment the two dashed by, one of them made for an attempted lunge, reaching a brittle bone hand out towards Painter.

"I don't think so." Lilith growled, left hand shooting straight up. Directly below the Mindless husk, the murky shadow began to condense, a quick flash of metal flying straight up and through its wrist, cutting the creature off effectively.

"Gross." Her left hand opened, catching the hilt of her scythe as it came rocketing back down, swinging it around before having it rest at her side. She watched with uninterested eyes as the Mindless stumbled over each other, each climbing over the other in an outraged attempt to get Lilith.

The moment they got within range, Lilith turned tail and dashed off. She had to be mindful, if she ran too fast, there was a chance that she'd lose them, on top of the issue of how close they were to the mansion.

God knows what would happen if the Mindless were able to lead themselves straight to the mansion. With how many there were probably at the mansion right now, that on its own would result in nothing good.

But, with that in mind, she couldn't be too slow either. If the claw-like nails and the razor-sharp teeth were anything to go by, being too close would lead to a most certain death.

With that said, Lilith lead them on, ducking and dodging as she went. Their heavy growls and intense breathing, coupled with their staggering yet feverish footfalls, was enough evidence to ensure that they were still nipping at their heels.

The moment Lilith spotted it, a thin golden thread hanging from a branch, she began to slow down.

By the time the Mindless noticed the golden web beneath them, it was already too late. Like a net, the strings rose, tightening as they did. Their cackling screeches and shrieks seemingly blended into an even bigger mess, as each of them attempted to climb over the other in order to escape.

"Like crabs in a bucket." Puppeteer snickered, finally coming out from his hiding spot behind a tree, golden strings wrapped around his right hand, tightening around each finger in a seemingly random manner, before going straight up into the leaves and the branches above them.

"A good thing we set up here," Painter murmured, ignoring the comment that Puppeteer had made, "If we'd gone any farther, we could have ended up caught."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, up ahead, looks like a bunch of humans decided to go camping or something," Puppeteer sighed, his free hand coming up to rub the back of his neck, "Looked like a bunch of drunken college students."

"Figures," Lilith muttered, making a face when she noticed the spit and drool raining from above them, "You mind if I…?"

"By all means." Within seconds, Lilith whipped her scythe about, golden strings and mangled body parts falling around her.

"Aww, crap!" Puppeteer cursed, pulling a disfigured limb from his beanie, giving it an appalled look, before tossing it a good distance away, "I'll never get over how gross these things are."

"Well, while you two clean this mess up, I'm going to keep an eye on those students." With that, Painter turned tail and left, "Try not to make too much of a mess."

"…I swear, those anime TV shows he watches with Ben are doing something to him." Puppeteer snickered, one hand retracting his strings, the other coming up to rest on half of his face, "I'm going to walk off on my own and have this cool inner monologue as I disappear, OWO."

"You're just being dramatic and excessive, as per usual." Lilith chided lightly, kicking a torso out of the way, "Secondly, never make that sound again."

"…OWO?"

Puppeteer couldn't help but laugh when a stray leg was thrown at him, "Aww, come on, don't be like that!"

"I wonder, is this how Painter feels day in and day out?" Lilith wondered aloud to herself, before looking to the pile of limbs with slight disgust, "It's starting to stink terribly."

With a dismissive wave of her hand, Lilith watched the remains sink into the ground, swallowed whole into the dark abyss below.

Puppeteer's eyes couldn't help but narrow, giving Lilith a look as she leaned on her scythe, "So, Painter and I could kinda watch you approach from where we were setting up."

"Is that so?" Lilith asked, stretching her arms as she did so.

"Yeah, Painter and I couldn't help but wonder…Why didn't you just go ahead and use those weird edgy shadow powers?" Puppeteer asked, hands finding themselves buried back into his pockets, "I mean, not to say you weren't efficient and whatnot, but it could have been much faster is all."

"Ah, well…" Lilith muttered, rubbing the back of her head, "No real reason, really."

"…Your lying skills are really on and off, you know that?"

"If only I hadn't disposed all of those corpses." Lilith murmured to herself, venom seething from her lips, "I'd have more ammunition."

Puppeteer grinned, hands held up in surrender, "Fine, be like that then. I'm not like Painter, you know. It's his job to be all privy, not mine."

Lilith gave a grunt of acknowledgement, planting her scythe into the ground, before leaning on it. Honestly, she couldn't wait for Painter to get back, then they could all go home and have this done with.

What she didn't expect, however, was for Painter to come hobbling back, a body dragging behind him, "What the hell…?" Puppeteer muttered, eyes squinting, "Who's that?"

Painter had one arm around the person's waist, throwing this person's arm over his shoulder in order to help the weight distribution.

"Is she for an art project or something?" Lilith groaned, giving Painter a quizzical look as he shuffled along, "Cause if so, don't expect me to help out and-."

"Will you shut up and help me!?" Painter growled, taking the other two aback, "This is serious!"

"What's so bad about the death of a college student?" Puppeteer wondered aloud, looking over the corpse-like being that Painter held, his expression dropping, "Shit." He grumbled, before grabbing the person's other arm, "Lilith, how fast can you get us back to the mansion?"

"I've never tried with three extra people, I can't guarantee that it would be safe." Lilith murmured, before walking closer over. It was now obvious that the person was a girl, with long black hair covering her face, her body sagged over. The long black hair and dress looked familiar, but she couldn't put a name to her yet, "What's so important anyway?"

Leaning forward, Lilith moved the hair out of the person's face, eyes narrowed, before widening, cursing as she backed up.

"…Oh my God, Jane?"

* * *

There was nothing quite like a quiet day in the mansion. Ben "lived" for days like these, no one to fight for the grub in the fridge, no one to fight for the tv, no one to fight in general.

So, there he sat in the living room, Switch hooked up and playing on the living room's TV. Nothing could beat this, being sprawled out on the couch without any regard to anyone. All he had to do was beat the Waterblight Ganon boss, then he could call it a day.

Sure, Slender ended up stalking into the living room, but with how he decided to sit down in his usual arm chair with a book in hand, Ben quickly tuned out the tall being's presence.

If the big guy was just gonna read in his corner of the room, who was Ben to judge?

He wasn't sure how much time had passed before another person made their existence known, a cold hand on his shoulder being the introduction.

"Do you mind if I take a seat here?"

Ben just shrugged, more so to get the cold hands off of his shoulder than anything, as Shad took a seat. Ben couldn't care less, he wasn't bothering him, he was good to go.

Nope, there was no way that the thickening air was throwing him off. There was also no way that Shad's calm posture was just some thinly veiled façade of any sort. And, of course, there was no way that Slender's fingers were beginning to dig into the leather cover of his book.

Finally, Shad decided to lean back, giving what Ben assumed to be a calm and casual smile, "The weather's been lovely as of late, hasn't it?"

"God damnit," Ben muttered, shooting up from his spot on the couch, "Why do I even bother," with that, he walked right through the wall. He knew when a fight was about to start, and when it came to those two, he didn't want to be caught in the middle of it.

Meanwhile, that awkward silence descended upon the two, the room slowly growing louder in its dead silence.

 _"…If you're about to bring up what I believe you will try, I'm sure that you know my stance on the situation at this point."_

"Believe it or not, that's not the only thing that plagues my mind." Shad muttered, twisting to face Slender, an elbow coming up to rest on the armrest of the couch, "Besides, what makes you think that I didn't want to just have a casual conversation?"

 _"…Casual conversation?"_

"…Nah, you're right," Shad murmured, his fingers dancing through the air almost absentmindedly, "I don't think we've ever really had 'casual conversations', huh? Even back then, all of our talks normally ended with fights, and that's not counting the times when the others were in the mansion. I mean, damn, remember when-."

 _"You want something."_

Shad shot Slender a small smile, "What makes you say that?"

 _"You've always had a problem with talking too much,"_ Slender went on, his tone as cryptic as his expression, _"It gave you away quite often back then."_

 _"So, tell me, Shadowlurker, what is it that you want?"_

"…Okay, here me out." Shad finally sighed, giving up the façade, "That mad Shade is out there somewhere, and you refuse to do anything about it."

" _Erroneous-."_

"Furthermore," Shad went on, ignoring whatever the faceless one had begun to attempt to say, fingers tugging wisps of smoke from the air, "You've decided that no one here will help to get rid of her either. You have a Shade at your disposal, a powerful one at that, and you refuse to make sure of what you've been given!"

 _"…If you are to propose something, I suggest you do it quickly."_ Slender murmured, keeping a figurative eye on Shad's hand.

"Just give me the diary, and I'll take care of it before it can get worse." Shad finally conceded, "I'll go out on my own and take care of this thing before it can become more of a threat. There's no need to worry about hunting her down, I can track Shades to a point. Finding her will be easy, but killing her will be near impossible if I don't have that diary."

His proposition was met with silence.

"Don't act all surprised, I know that you have R's diary." Shad went on, "And I know what's in there. Give it to me, and I'll go out and hunt her down."

 _"…"_

"…Well?" Shad muttered, "What do you think?"

 _"…Absolutely not."_

"Oh, come on!" Shad finally shouted, jumping up from his spot on the couch. Even with his hand still at his side, the smoke continued to gather around his fingers, slowly growing darker as they rose from the ground, "I'm over here, trying to give you other ways out, and you aren't moving a finger!"

 _"Say that I did give you the Diary,"_ Slender contemplated, _"You said it yourself, she's uncontrollable and thus stronger. What happens if you are defeated?"_

"…There's more than just that, isn't there?" Shad thought aloud, eyes narrowed.

 _"She then takes hold of the diary,"_ Slender went on, blatantly ignoring Shad as he rose from his chair, _"And all that information goes straight to Zalgo. That isn't something I'm willing to risk."_

"Cause you just hate taking those in general, don't you!?"

 _"Do NOT raise your voice with me, boy."_

"You two seem to enjoy bickering often."

The two fell silent at the new voice, both turning to face the Doctor in the doorway. He leaned on the dining room door frame, a coffee mug in hand, "Honestly, you two are so loud I could hear you from the basement."

 _"…Apologies, Doctor."_ Slender muttered, watching as Doctor Smiley walked into the living room.

"Didn't realize that you'd crept out of your little cavern from down below." Shad commented, wincing only slightly at his tone. It would appear as if the venom in his tone wouldn't be gone any time soon.

"While I do have a lot down there, I am still lacking a fridge used for something other than…storage." The Doctor then shrugged, walking over to settle down on the couch, putting his coffee cup down.

The two couldn't help but stare as the Doctor stretched and leaned back, seemingly oblivious to the tense air, "…The weather's been lovely as of late, hasn't it?"

Before things could escalate any further, the air over them seemed to twist. One second, the three of them stood there, and the next, something fell through the ceiling.

No one was sure how to take it at first, staring at the mess of tangled limbs on the ground, before a familiar voice let out a groan, "Oh God, who landed on my knee!?"

"Painter, I swear the God, that better be a paint brush against my-."

"Doc, it's Jane!" Lilith shouted, finally getting up from the mess of people, before grabbing a suspiciously pale arm, mask obscuring the panicked look she still had on her face, "Something's seriously wrong with her!"

In that second, Dr. Smiley was on one knee, attempting to find Jane's pulse. He then moved to pull the collar of her dress down, "Woah now, this doesn't seem like a good time for that, Doc." Puppeteer murmured from the ground, only to be slapped by Painter.

Finally, Dr. Smiley shot up, dusting off his coat as he walked towards the basement, "Puppeteer, Painter, get off your ass. I need your help moving Jane, she's in critical condition."

* * *

 **Honestly this part is more so for me than you guys:**

 **After this fic, I still have one more planned (Cause I want to wrap this up into a nice little trilogy. On top of that, I gotta finish Remember Me for sure. Even if it takes me forever and a few years. Cause, damn, we all know that I'm not the best when it comes to taking to deadlines and whatnot.**

 **Oh, also, I seriously doubt that I'll be able to update anything during the summer. I know that I don't update as is, but know that I'm going to finish this story and Remember Me for sure. I don't have a time of when, but I will.**

 **Anyway, as always I hope you guys all enjoyed, and I'll catch ya in the next chappie!**

 **Till then, bai bai!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi, Crimson here!**

 **Wow, I've been using that as my beginning line for a while now, huh?**

 **Maybe I should think about chaging it eventually...**

 **...Eventually.**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

"How's her condition looking, Doc?"

"She's breathing," Dr. Smiley muttered, eyes looking bloodshot at this point, "Being how her condition was earlier, I'd say that this is a fair improvement."

Lilith couldn't do more than offer a nod, moving to lean against a tall metal rack. She honestly never did like it in Dr. Smiley's basement, too cold and cramped to be comfortable. Normally everything was almost disgustingly pristine, with all the tools put away in their exact place and (for some reason) stuck with a lingering smell of rubbing alcohol. But, after what had been five straight hours of surgery, the basement looked like a giant mess.

Lilith couldn't help but cringe at the sight of Jane. Her body was normally very pale, so seeing thin lines of black all over her skin was weirder than Lilith wanted to admit. Her breathing was shallow, the steady beat of the heart monitor being the only real proof that she hadn't crossed over yet.

After looking over some notes, as well as the monitor and other life-support like things (Lilith couldn't tell for sure, she didn't grow up around these types of things), the Doc finally allowed himself to step away, "She should be steady, for now."

"Good." Was all Lilith could really offer, stepping back to allow the Doc to come walking through, a dish of tools in hand. While Dr. Smiley went to wash his stuff, Lilith couldn't help but wonder.

Was this all her work? Cause, God knew that she's seen the messes that Lizzie liked to leave behind. The Mindless were bad enough, with their peeling skin covered in burnt patches. It was enough to make any normal person vomit, and that's ignoring how stupidly strong and brash they were in combat.

It all leads back to the same question: what the hell had happened to Jane? She had a run in with Lizzie (unless there was some other insane Shade running amok out there), that much could be inferred.

Lilith couldn't help but feel just a bit apprehensive. Dr. Smiley had been able to bring her back from the brink of death, but that didn't insure anything. Who knew for sure what could happen to Jane next?

Who knew what could happen to anyone next?

"Do you plan to stay in that corner for another five hours?" Lilith was snapped out of her head at the tone of the Doctor, "Because if so, I wouldn't be opposed to some help."

"Will all due respect, Doctor, the last time I helped, you had more of a mess to clean up afterwards." Lilith couldn't help but shoot back, a small smile on her face. At least she wasn't stuck in her head anymore.

"Well, I didn't think that you'd perceive 'hold him down' as 'quickly, let's stab him straight through his arm and pin him to the table like that'." She knew that it should be, but she could help but look back on the memory with fondness. Good times.

"If all you're going to do is brood, you can at least brood while doing something useful."

"Alright, alright," Lilith muttered, hands up as she walked behind the storage shelf, pushing through the collection of labeled bottles, cans and jars, "Which one do you need this time?"

"Mmm…Get me the Aggrestral and…Ah, the Icorotec will do just fine."

"Anyone ever told you that you've got the knack for names, Doc?" Lilith muttered, more to herself than anyone else as she pushed her way through the collection, making a face when her hand hit what felt like wet glass, "Also, it feels like one of these might be leaking."

"It's nothing important, I'll look into it later," The Doctor said, waving his hand over his head as if a fly had decided to bother him, not even bothering to turn around before throwing his hand out. Lilith placed both into his open hand, leaning over his shoulder just a bit, watching him stir some cream into his cup of coffee, "And when you get to find something and name it, remind me to criticize it for you as well."

"All I'm saying is that it sounds like you got them off of an internet name generator."

"And all I'm asking is that you remain silent, I think I'm onto something here." Dr. Smiley shot back, tugging at his face mask a bit before twisting off the top of both bottles. He gave both of them a faint whiff, before pouting both of some into his cup of coffee, "I believe I've finally found a diagnosis, of sorts."

"Oh?" Lilith murmured. Dr. Smiley nodded, moving his face mask up just a bit, enough to lift the cup to his still-concealed lips.

"Indeed," The Doctor went on, taking a moment to set his cup back down, before walking on, "After studying both you and Shad, as well as spending the past five hours examining Jane's body, I think that I'm able to draw a few possible conclusions."

"English, please." Lilith muttered, following him through his labyrinth of shelves, "I can only follow about half of what you're saying here, Doc."

Finally, in the back of the shelves and the clutter, an equally messy desk sat. On it, open notebooks and loose-leaf paper sat, pens scattered across the desk as well. "Of course, I can't be entirely sure just yet as I've yet to really analyze a Mindless' body."

"Is Jane's body not satisfactory?"

"Let me reiterate," Dr. Smiley scowled, "I need the dead body of something, preferably a human, that has been exposed to this 'mindless disease'."

"Regardless, I've been able to gather a bit of something," The Doctor said, groaning as he slowly took a seat at his desk. He took a moment to organize his notes, before going on, "This whole mess with the Mindless, their 'special rage-induced condition', works similarly to a virus."

"In the sense that people can get infected and whatnot?" Lilith questioned.

"Well, I think that it depends on the person. Of course, at first, I assumed that only humans could get infected," the Doctor went on, "Being how you've only encountered human Mindless, naturally I assumed that only humans could be infected."

"But, after this…" Lilith trailed on, gesturing to the comatose body of Jane, "I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that your assumption has changed?"

"Drastically." He muttered, more to himself than anyone else, a bloodied hand on his chin, "Of course, Jane is on the humanoid side, so it's possible that anyone who used to be human can be affected? But no, than that would mean that Ben could be affected...Or does being a ghost automatically cancel that theory out?"

Lilith couldn't help but tune out. Even if she had decided to listen, she'd only be able to catch the worst bits and pieces of whatever was running through his mind. She instead decided to look over the shelves, picking up some random shiny object to fiddle with.

"Put that down."

Making a loud exaggerated noise, Lilith put the tool down, before looking back over Jane's body, "Anything else you manage to figure out?"

"What makes you suddenly interested?"

"Being how there's nothing else to really talk about now," Lilith muttered, before turning back to the Doctor, "Also, I'm a bit curious."

"I've yet to have any real concrete facts at the moment," Dr. Smiley muttered, before walking past her, test tubes in hand, "But, I do have a few theories."

"Oh?" Lilith muttered, taking a seat at an unused metal table, "Do tell."

"For starters, after taking a look at your blood, as well as Shad's, I have come to the possible conclusion that Shades are unable to be infected by...Whatever this is." He muttered, gesturing to the test tube in his hands. Looking closely, Lilith could see the black liquid inside writhing and wiggling, as if it were alive.

"We're sure that this thing is a virus and not some sort of supernatural parasite?" Lilith asked, moreso to herself than the doctor.

"Honestly, it possesses traits from both viruses and parasites," Dr. Smiley shrugged, before rubbing his head, "At least, I think it does."

"You think?"

"Is that not what I just said?" Lilith nearly laughed at his exasperated tone, "Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, I believe that I could find a cure in Shade blood."

"What makes you think that?" Lilith asked, adjusting her mask just a bit. God, this thing got sweaty and gross quick.

Note to self: Either get a new mask or learn to deal with it.

"Well, since you're immune, I'd assume that the source of your immunity could lie in your blood or DNA," Dr. Smiley murmured, before picking up a needle from next to him, "Of course, I'll need a bit more in order for me to test this theory."

"I don't suppose that we could get Shad down here instead?" Lilith couldn't help but ask, only to wince when the needle was plunged into her arm, nearly punching the Doctor on instinct.

"It's the same idea that comes from snake venom almost," Dr. Smiley insisted, watching with sickening glee as the needle filled with blood, "Unfortunately, I've already tried experimenting with this madness virus. They weren't very successful."

"It couldn't have been that bad." Lilith muttered, watching as the Doctor walked away with his needle.

He didn't speak as he put the needle down, instead grabbing the test tube with the virus/parasite thing inside.

He then walked over to the fridge, opening it wide for Lilith to see the goopy black stains that now littered the normally pristine fridge, "This is what's left of the experiments."

"...Maybe they're not meant to be refrigerated?" Lilith couldn't help but suggest, doing her best to ignore the look on the Doctor's face, "Alright, you're right and I'm wrong, I get it. What else do you think?"

"As per usual with diseases, I believe that there is a small population of non-shades who are immune," He moved to put her blood into a test tube, before staching that in the fridge, being mindful of the black goop, "This is assuming that they've been exposed to it, or something similar to it, and survived."

"Like chickenpox?"

"Exactly." Dr. Smiley nodded, before pushing past her table, moving towards a microscope, "Unfortunately, until I am able to ask more of Jane, I will not know for sure if any of these theories hold any weight."

"I don't suppose that any of this has helped us to find Lizzie?" Lilith asked, just a tad too hopeful-sounding for her taste.

"As of right now, no." Dr. Smiley murmured, before turning to face her, "I'm going to assume that you were hoping for a different answer?"

"I won't deny it." Lilith muttered, ignoring how her shadow grew colder.

"I do recall Slender saying that he didn't approve of hunting that Shade," Dr. Smiley mumbled, looking her dead in the eyes, "Of course, there's a chance that I heard that wrong."

Lilith didn't answer, knowing that the Doctor already knew all he needed to. Finally, he moved on to get to something behind her, "I don't suppose that you've been thinking about anything besides her?"

"It's been difficult to think of other things," Lilith murmured, looking down at her hands. She tried to, she really did, but she felt like she was just burying one problem with another problem.

When she wasn't thinking about Lizzie, she was thinking about how she had to control her new found powers. When she didn't want to think of that, she instead thought about that stupid human boy who seemed to constantly be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And so on and so on.

"When was the last time you gave yourself a break?" Lilith did her best not to look the Doctor in the eye, as if averting eye contact would stop him from stating the obvious, "And you all accuse me of being the household workaholic."

"Even if I did have free time, it isn't like I have anything to really do." Lilith said, "I don't really have a 'social life' of sorts, and you know that I'm not exactly...friendly."

"Ignoring how that is the understatement of the year, that doesn't mean that you can't give yourself some downtime." Dr. Smiley chided, before jumping the subject entirely, "So, how are you and Slender doing?"

"WHAT!?" Lilith shouted louder than she meant to, whipping around when something behind her crashed. She stared at the metal shelf that was tipped over, her shadow still wiggling with fury.

Dr. Smiley stared at his shelf, taking note of everything that fell over, before giving her a look, "Really?"

"I apologize, I didn't mean to do that." Lilith muttered, trying to ignore the guilt building up in her core, "I'll help you clean it up."

"Don't bother," Dr. Smiley groaned, bending down to pick up the fallen test tubes, ignoring the shards of glass that now littered the floor, "Besides, you haven't answered my question yet."

"...We're fine." Lilith muttered, ignoring how warm her face was becoming, "Nothing has changed."

"You're both terrible at lying." the Doctor muttered to himself, before standing back up, giving up on the mess on the floor, "I'm not stupid, you know."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Quit playing dumb, Lilith," Dr. Smiley scowled, "Don't insult my intellect by attempting to be ignorant."

"...We had a moment, sure, maybe?" Lilith muttered, before shaking her head, "It doesn't matter. He's yet to acknowledge anything, so-."

"You plan to do the same," Dr. Smiley shook his head, before moving to the counter, "I swear, staying down here and away from all of this awkward highschool drama is probably the best thing to ever happen to me."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Lilith pressed, arms coming up to cross over her chest.

"It's physically painful to watch the two of you dance around each other, that's all." Dr. Smiley muttered, before waving his hand, "But hey, by all means, keep doing it. There's nothing else really going on right now, it wouldn't hurt to have some sort of new gossip."

"...Thank you for your time, Doctor." Lilith muttered, forcing her nerves to calm down as she headed for the stairs, "But I need to go and get work done."

"Ah, yes." Dr. Smiley said, voice growing a little louder as Lilith made her way up the stairs, "Do me a favor, if you're able to acquire an extra spleen…"

"I'll see what I can do." Lilith muttered, finally making it to the top. She pushed the basement door open, "Until next time, doctor."

"I look forward to your next visit, Lilith." Was her reply, the last thing she heard before she closed the door.

Once it was closed, Lilith couldn't help but throw her back against it, hands clutching at her mask as she forced her breathing back under control.

That had gotten awkward, fast.

She took a moment to calm down, looking at the clock, before promptly dropping into her shadow, welcoming the sudden cold that rushed up her body, as well as the dark silence.

God knew she needed it to think right now.

And what better place to have some time to think than Evergreen?  
The shadows evaporated around her as she stepped out of a tree, eyes following the treeline before crossing the barren street.

Breathing in the cold icy air, Lilith stuffed her hands into her pockets. There was no one out here to bother her, especially at this time of night. With that thought in mind, she walked down the street, pulling her mask off so she could feel the cold air against her face.

After all this shit she had to deal with as of late, she felt like a night to herself was well deserved at this point.

* * *

She didn't notice the being watching her from the forestline.

She didn't notice the light giggles that came from the treeline, nor did she really detect the dark presence that decided to follow her into the town.

Maybe she willingly chose to be naive to it, but there was no denying the shrill shriek of laughter that cut through the air.

* * *

 **Maybe I should just change my whole format. I wonder where I'd end up...**

 **WHAT'S UP GUYS, IT'S YA BOI, CRIMSONTRAINER4395, BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH ANOTHER CHAPTER!**

 **IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, BE SURE TO DROP A REVIEW AND LEAVE A LIKE, OR A FAVORITE, OR WHATEVER!**

 **...Yeah, I'm not gonna do that.**

 **My current stuff might be a bit cringy looking back at it, but I guess it could be worse.**

 **...Snarf**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi, Crimson here!**

 **(Insert something witty, funny or relatable here)**

 **(Insert general complaints about my life here)**

 **(Insert a bit with the other OC's I've accumulated here)**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Nothing was out of place.

Nope, Lilith refused to think otherwise.

Nothing was wrong.

Lilith chalked it up to anxiety. Yeah, she had been through a lot, it would make sense for her mind to be on edge. It would make sense for her to feel uneasy, even if this was supposed to be a night of well deserved down time.

It must have been the voices whispering in her ears, she thought to herself. Yeah, that made sense. They were just getting louder again and they were filling her head again, surely that was it.

She had slowly but surely grown use to ignoring the whispers in her head. The voices of those that had died, those she had killed. Normally, they were like a dull drone in the back of her head, nothing more than a nuisance as long as she could keep them in control.

Of course, there were times where they got out of control, their voices similar to nails on a chalkboard… But no, that didn't happen often.

Lilith ignored the cold chills running up and down her spine as she walked on, passing by the shopping district with a scoff. There would be no one here but stupid teenagers and the homeless; nothing interesting at this time of night.

Moving on, she walked on, no real destination in mind. She wondered just as her mind did, without any real sense of direction.

This was supposed to be a relaxing night to herself, but it was quickly becoming one of apprehensions instead. The normally dark alleyways felt foreboding as she passed by, as if something was to jump out at her instead of the other way around.

She was a Shade, a demon of the shadows, a being born from the depths of hell. This was supposed to be her element, so why did it all feel so off?

Lilith whipped her head around, swearing that she heard quickened footsteps from behind her. Yeah, no, no more of this ignorance bullshit. She threw her hand out, catching her scythe as it shot up and out from her shadow, eyes narrowed.

There was something following her.

"Ben, if that's you, I swear to whatever higher being there is," Lilith muttered darkly, leaving the threat open.

She forced her nerves down, breathing in deeply as she kept an eye on the dark corners of the town. She stood her ground in the middle of the deserted street, the small shops lining the road either closed for the night or closed down.

She forced her initial panic down, shaking her head as she looked around, ears ringing. Letting this feeling of immense terror take over would only end up disastrous, so forcing herself to calm the hell down was the only way to keep her head on.

Regardless, Lilith lifted the scythe to rest over her shoulder, eyes narrowed. Something was off, she knew it, she just didn't know exactly what it was.

Looking up the street, she was sure that she saw… Something. Squinting, she watched the street closely, before her eyes widened, taking a step back.

The already dark street seemed to slowly grown darker, as if the shadows attempted to stretch down the road, reaching out to try and grab her ankles. Slowly but surely, the area grew dark. It got darker, and darker still.

Lilith refused to acknowledge her knees shaking, forcing her breathing back under control as she took a step forward, scythe raised and ready.

Her body reacted before her mind did, jumping back before the shadows around her had the chance to shoot up, their jagged edges and sharp curves more than enough evidence for Lilith to know who she was fighting.

She swung when another shadow got too close, her blade cutting right through it as if it wasn't even there. She nearly fell over, not noticing that they were beginning to rise up ever so slightly from the ground to wrap around her ankles.

She raised her foot, stopping down as hard as she could, forcing her own shadow to send out a shockwave.

"Quit hiding!" Lilith shouted, almost surprised by how assertive she sounded. Wow, she didn't sound scared at all, impressive, really, being how this has been haunting her dreams for a while now.

Her answer was silence, the jagged black on the ground snaking about, lashing up and out from the ground in almost random patterns. Lilith did her best to avoid them, stepping and twirling out of the way, each getting closer and closer.

Regaining her footing, Lilith backed up, unwilling to turn her back to the darkening road. She watched as the darkness collected itself from the ground, rising akin to a snake, almost.

Lilith gulped, eyes wide as she watched it rise, the huge wave of black towering over her. There seemed to be a moment of peace, as if it would just collapse and be rendered useless. Lilith waited with bated breath, scythe held out and to her left, knees bent and ready.

If she had blinked, she was sure that she would have missed it. Instead, she got to watch as the wave crashed and rushed towards her, rushing towards her like a giant wave.

Without a second thought, Lilith brought the scythe down in front of her, embedding it into the asphalt. Once she was sure that it wouldn't move, her right hand gripped the handle as tightly as possible, the left held up and out in front of her.

She forced her own shadow to rise and bend to her will, thrusting it forth like a spear of sorts, right into the middle of the wave.

At the moment of collision, she could feel it, her shadow verses whatever this mass was. Her will against this thing. She wouldn't be able to hold it back, that much was obvious, but by concentrating, she could maybe just…

Lilith watched in slight awe as she forced the wave to split, her grip on her scythe the only thing keeping her grounded as the remnants of the wave rushed past her, the force nearly ripping her mask right off of her face.

She couldn't help but let out a small laugh, eyes wide as she attempted to compute what just happened.

Honestly, she wasn't sure if that would work or not.

Of course, it was then that she noticed that she wasn't laughing. No, that wasn't her, she didn't sound that shrill and psychotic. At least, she didn't sound like that all the time.

"Wow, what a great show! I really didn't know how you'd take that attack, but it's good to see that you're still standing, big sister!"

That voice sent mad shivers down her spine, feet taking a step back without her say. It was as if her body acted on its own now, ignoring Lilith's will.

She felt fear.

She tried to force her nerves down once more, her self control dwindling, "The game's pretty boring when you opponent in hiding, don't you think!?" Lilith shouted, attempting to mask her dread with anger.

She could do it. She could hold her ground, against the creature of her nightmares, even if she already felt exhausted…

Yeah, these odds sucked ass.

Regardless, Lilith stood her ground, hands gripping the handle of her scythe as she pulled the blade out of the ground.

Despite everything, she refused to let the fear take over.

"Well, if you wanted me to come out so badly, why didn't you say so?"

She felt it before she saw it, whipping around as quickly as she could, bringing her scythe around with her, hoping that she could just cut her nightmare in half and be done with it.

Her movement was halted too quickly, a bony hand rising to catch the scythe by the pole.

"Boo."

Lilith acted before she could process, her fears taking over before she could force them back under control. She didn't realize that her shadow had blasted itself outward, shooting itself out like a spray or shrapnel.

Lizzie barely had time to jump back, bringing her arms up to shield her face. Lilith couldn't help but feel a bit satisfied with how Lizzie seemed to shrink away, her skin cut and ripped through.

"Ah, I see you've learned a lot in the last year or so! Wonderful!" Lizzie clapped, looking down at her arms in wonder, as if she had no idea she could feel pain up until now, "Daddy's gonna be so pleased to see how far along you've come!"

Lilith refused to acknowledge the way her skin was crawling, as if attempting to get as far away from Lizzie as possible.

She forced her breathing to slow, forcing it back under control as she hefted the curved blade up and over her, bringing it down directly on Lizzie's head.

She was sure that the force of the attack would have split the girl's skull in two. That is, of course, assuming that she had not reached up to grab the base of the blade, her one arm strong enough to stop all the downward force.

Lilith growled, attempting to push the blade down, only to have Lizzie single handedly hold it up with relative ease, "I don't see why you bother with this thing, you know." Lizzie muttered, before tossing it to the side, Lilith nearly flying with it, "It holds you back from doing cool things, like this!"

Lilith had seconds to roll out of the way, whipping her head back in order to slide under the low sweep of a dark arc, watching as it sliced right through her hair.

Twisting her left foot back, she whipped herself up, continuing the motion as she swung her scythe upwards, following a diagonal line across her body as she forced her will into the swing.

Lilith watched in slight surprise when her shadow followed the motion, rising up from the ground and at Lizzie in a shark fin-like wave.

Lizzie flicked her hand to the side, creating a wall that, upon impact, exploded outwards into black.

"God, I haven't had this much fun in a while!" Lizzie giggled, clapping her hands together, before placing them on her cheeks, "As much fun as hunting is, I can't help but admit that there's something… stimulating about having the prey fight back."

Lilith couldn't help but shiver, watching as Lizzie… for lack of a better word, writhed, "Please never say that word again." Lilith muttered, swinging her scythe to bring it at a rest next to her. It was slowly getting harder and harder to ignore the shaking in her knees, and at this point, she wasn't sure if it was from fear or exertion.

Being how her hands were shaking and her vision was blurring slightly, she was willing/hoping that it was exertion's fault.

"Oh? Is someone getting tired?" Lizzie teased.

"You fucking wish." Lilith spat out, planting her feet on the ground.

"Good! I was worried that this game would have to end, and I'd hate to feel like we're wasting time!" Lizzie grinned, her smile widening to horrific proportions before ripping open, her skin pulling itself open, exposing her darkened insides.

Lilith fought the urge to throw up, feeling herself back up a bit, scythe up and ready to swing. Her knees were shaking, hands sweating like crazy. She could feel her heart quickening, the powerful thumping sound echoing in her head, as well as the rush of blood in her ears.

Her vision tunneled, veins feeling as if they were being filled with ice.

She didn't have to look down to know that her shadow was writhing on the ground, reacting strongly to Lilith's sudden spike of fear. She could feel their power, fighting to free itself from the ground and attack.

She nearly missed it when Lizzie chuckled, that smile on her face the same one that haunted Lilith, "Oh, big sis, you shouldn't have." She giggled, the area behind her losing all light and color, as if she was draining it right out of the world.

"I can smell your fear from here."

* * *

Today had not been Dimitri's day.

Not in the slightest.

First, he'd been late to school. Normally he was there with five minutes to spare, but due to… complications, he had missed the bus.

Then, only after getting to school almost an hour late, he realized that he had forgotten his homework at home. This being the fifth time this had happened, he obtained the worst possible sentence that could be bestowed upon someone from Ms. Rosario's Chemistry class:

Detention.

But no, this wouldn't be any normal type of detention. He was getting what other students refered to as "Ultimate Mega Suicide Detention".

A charming nickname, really.

This consisted of a phone call home (not that he really cared for that, of course), a stern talking to from Ms. Rosario (In one ear and out the other, really), and a four-hour detention.

And so, thanks to this "Ultimate Mega Suicide Detention", he ended up leaving school well after the sun had set. Of course, this wasn't completely horrible. He normally stayed out this late, so it wasn't the dark that got to him.

It was the fact that there was roadwork, and this, they had barred off the entire street. But no, it couldn't have been any other street, it had to be the one that allowed him to get straight home. Nope, it was closed, so now he has to take the hour walk around route.

Walking home, he couldn't help but work his way down his misfortune checklist. Each step made his backpack feel heavier, but if he thought about it, it would only make the matter worse.

So, he thought about how much of a shit day he had been forced through. Taking another turn down another road, he couldn't help but get lost in thought.

This was officially the worst day of his life. Er, it wasn't the ABSOLUTE worst, but it was up there. It was at least top five. For sure.

Taking a turn, he shivered as the air grew colder, tugging his jacket as if it would help. Had it been this cold earlier? He didn't think so, but at the same time, he wasn't exactly aware of his surroundings.

Walking on, he put his hands into his pockets, trying to ignore the shivers. He wondered if he could just stay home tomorrow, not even bother with school… No, that wouldn't do any good. Maybe he could just skip school entirely? Apparently, there was some sort of card game being held at the mall tomorrow, and while he wasn't any good at it, there was something he loved about watching nerds lose their shit over a single card being thrown down.

Of course, he didn't really have any right to talk, but still.

A tremor shook him out of his head, forcing him to come to a complete stop. He stared at the ground, as if it would be able to offer him some sort of answer to his unspoken question.

Right as he was about to question if it had been real, another one ran from beneath his feet, just a bit stronger than the last one.

He squatted down, placing his hand down on the asphalt, confused. Was it a mini earthquake, perhaps?

He didn't walk down this street often, being how there was nothing but small shops and broken street lights here, but he was pretty sure that this kind of activity wasn't normal.

… Right?

He didn't have time to think too hard on it, instead falling right off of his feet and onto his ass. That wasn't just some little tremor, that was a borderline earthquake, and he was sure of it.

Rubbing his eyes, he tried to stand up, only to freeze. His eyes grew wide as they stayed on this… What was it? He had no clue, but it was radiating terror.

He couldn't tell, but he was pretty sure that this thing had it's back to him, it's long black hair shiny and dirty-looking. He stayed there on the ground, frozen as he inspected the ground that this being stood on.

It's shadow wasn't trying to writhe up and off of the ground, right?

No, of course not. He shook his head, slowly but surely scooting back on his ass, unable to take his eyes off of this terrifyingly monstrous thing.

He had to believe that, for his own sanity and whatnot.

A sudden wave of dizziness hit him, his head feeling light and woozy as he forced himself to look down, holding his hands out in order to help steady himself. Huh, were his hands always this… washed out looking?

He looked down at himself, attempting not to throw up his lunch. Weird, he was pretty sure that he had put on his mustard-yellow jeans in his mad haste to get to school on time. At least, he was pretty sure he did, unless Elizabeth Parker was making fun of him for no reason again-

"Oh, big sis, you shouldn't have."

Dimitri clutched his head, his mind spinning like crazy. This girl didn't sound any different to the girls at school, so why was her voice making his head hurt like this?

Why did her voice send chills down his spine? Why did every nerve in his body tell him to flee? Why were his legs refusing to move?

"I can smell your fear from here."

He suddenly felt very, VERY cold.

He could feel his chin tilting up, his eyes looking on even though his brain tried to stop him.

He ended up face to face with two crazed dark blue eyes, her smile gleaming white in the shadow that her long raven hair casted over her face.

"I didn't expect someone to come in and join our game."

Dimitri couldn't move. He couldn't speak, he couldn't even cry. He just stared back into this… this abyss of dark blue. There was nothing in her eyes, it was just a void that he couldn't look away from.

"Well, you're a cute one, aren't you?" The girl cooed, her hand reaching out to cup his chin.

Her hands felt cold like ice. His brain screamed at him to move, but he couldn't.

He just stared back, eyes shifting about. He felt like he was looking for something in those haunting eyes, something past the ocean of initial insanity, past the void of emptiness-

He yelped, suddenly yanked backwards by his hood. He was ripped out of the girl's grip, pulled through something… Dark and foreboding, before ending up face to face with a familiar mask.

"What the hell are you doing here!?"

He didn't even realize that she'd been shouting at him, barely reacting when she had pushed him backwards.

Wow, was that a shadow that shot up, where he once stood? From here he swore that it looked sharp, like it could cut right through- Fuck, what was moving under his feet right now?

Holy hell, something just snagged his hood again. Aaaaaaaand now he's being dragged backwards.

"Fucking hell, Dimitri! Do you have any sense of self preservation!?"

He was thrown to the side, watching as the masked girl leapt backwards. He knew her name, right? Yeah, he knew her name. Why was it taking so long for him to- Ah! Yeah, it was Lilith.

Damn, why was his head so clouded right now?

He felt like he should be scared. In moments of fear, he would be stiffening up, or curled up in the fetal position; something to that extent.

He barely realized it when his hood was grabbed once more, jerking him backwards. He waited for his head to hit the ground, but… He didn't.

He blinked. He was back in the shack. He blinked again, Lilith was there, standing over him. He didn't need to see her face to know that she was angry. Hell, she was probably way past anger, for some reason.

With the hostility that was rolling off of her shaking shoulders, he was pretty sure that she was about to kill him.

Something pushed him back, his knees buckling. He waited for his ass to hit the ground, but it crashed down on a wooden crate instead.

She then kicked out at something next to him, using the tip of her shoes to pull another crate over before taking a seat on it. She sat right in front of him, mask doing nothing to hide the immense amount of animosity she was exerting.

"I keep hoping that I'll never see your face again, and yet here you are, popping up once again." She growled, the mask somehow projecting her voice. God, he did NOT like the venom in her tone, "It looks like we'll be having another talk, Mr. Hart."

She leaned forward, resting her head against her hand, elbow resting on her knee. How did she manage to look so casual and terrifying at the same time!?

"I'll start with the easy question here," Dimtri gulped, watching as she shadows behind her grew taller, moving his foot when it got a little too close for his liking, "What. The hell. Were you doing?"

* * *

 **(Insert more banter between OC's here)**

 **(Maybe thrown in some sort of witty comment about the American legal system)**

 **(talk about cake and bananas cause I'm hungry and those are funny words and foods and whatnot)**

 **(Insert thank you's to people who still read this + lowkey beg for reviews cause they give you life)**

 **Till next chappie, bai bai!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi, Crimson here!**

 **Here, have stuff.**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Lilith was too tired for this.

She felt like a coil that had been tightened up one time too many. After everything, she was going to snap at any second, and when she did, it wasn't going to be pretty.

Nope, not in the slightest.

She didn't want to give herself time to dwell on what had happened in the last fifteen minutes, nor did she really want to allow herself to spiral down into her own self-inflicted dread.

No, she could allow her anger to mask all of that for right now.

And, speaking of anger…

Lilith kicked the crate that Dimitri sat on, angered when he didn't answer her question, "I don't like repeating myself."

"I… I was walking home l-late, and the street I normally w-walk down was closed!" Dimitri shouted, turning his head down, squeezing his eyes shut. Like that was going to negate what was happening right now. Like that was going to make all the scary shadows and the horrifying reality cease to exist.

"And if I don't believe you?" Lilith murmured, holding her hands out. Her shadow threw her scythe straight up and into her grip, making sure that Dimitri got a good look at the blade before leaning casually on it, "Cause, at this point, I don't think that our meetings are just random coincidences anymore."  
"I h-have no reason t-to follow you around, h-honest!" Dimitri shouted, throwing his hands up as if surrendering would spare him his life.

No, something was wrong, something felt off. She wasn't sure exactly what, nor was she sure exactly why, but Lilith didn't like it. Was he trying to hide something?

"...You're working with her, aren't you?" Lilith growled, eyes narrowing.

"What?" Dimitri couldn't help but ask, only to jump back when Lilith shot up and out of her crate, scythe resting right under his chin.

"That would make sense," Lilith muttered, more to herself than him, "That's why you keep showing up everywhere."

B-but if that's the case, t-than why would she attack me!?" Dimitri shouted. No, he squeaked.

"All part of the plan, of course." Lilith scowled, before pushing him back. She forced him up against the wall, the curved blade at his neck keeping him there, "I'm no idiot, kid."

"N-no, please, don't-!" He didn't get to finish that sentence. Lilith brought the blade down, watching as he jumped back in panic.

She had only meant to nick his finger, but due to his sudden and erratic movement, his hand was now stained red.

She ignored him as he screamed, bringing the blade over for inspection. There was still no sign of any visible difference, at least, nothing that she could find.

She reached out to touch it, ignoring Dimitri's loud and erratic cries. It reacted normally, no turning black on contact, no real sentience coming from it. It was just… blood.

Lifting the bottom of her mask, she licked her fingers, keeping an eye on Dimitri. Yep, no difference here. If this kid was with Lizzie, there would be at least some sort of trace on him.

Well, there went that theory.

She watched him curl up on himself, holding his head down as he shivered and cried. He seemed to fold in on himself almost, cradling his bleeding hand.

Lilith couldn't help but scoff. How pathetic.

Lilith couldn't help but watch this kid, shivering and shaking in fear.

Sure, she had no proof that he worked with her, and she doubted that Lizzie would find much use with this spineless insect. But, still...

It would be so easy to kill him. Here and now, in the middle of nowhere. It would be the most logical path to take. Hell, it would be the best path to take.

So why hadn't she done it already?

Lilith cursed, kicking over her crate, her shadow doing the same with Dimitri's crate. She watched as he cowered away from the wall she had thrown it at. God, that fear in his eyes was really starting to get to her.

Wait, hold up, what the hell is this new feeling?

Was it pity? Out of every victim, every kill, NOW is she decided to grow some sort of moral backbone?

Cause, if so, she was going to have to do a lot of self-searching to figure out what the hell was going on in her head.

"...Get up."

"W-what?" Dimitri murmured, only now able to rip his eyes away from his bleeding hand.

"Stand the FUCK up right now." Lilith growled, watching as he shot straight up, "Turn around, put your forehead against the wall."

"B-but...B-but I-."

"Do. It. Now." Lilith growled, shaking her head. The longer this took, the harder it became to convince herself to go through with it.

She forced him up against the wall, scythe pressed up against the back of his neck. She could feel his shivers running down the pole of her scythe, her grip tightening. All she'd have to do is kill him. One swing on her scythe, hell, one flick of her hand. That's all it would take.

But she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Why couldn't she bring herself to do it!?

"God FUCKING DAMNIT." Lilith shouted, bringing the scythe down. She missed Dimitri's neck entirely, hell, she missed his body entirely with that wild swing.

It felt wrong. Why did it feel wrong? He was just some human, no more and no less! She's killed who knows how many of them. She killed without remorse when ordered. She killed them without orders, and it changed nothing morality wise. Hell, she'd killed some BEFORE she became what she is now.

So why couldn't she kill this one kid?

Dimitri yelped, but Lilith didn't notice. Hell, even if she had, she wouldn't have cared. Scowling, she threw her scythe behind her, her shadow swallowing the weapon whole. She took a moment to calm down, her breathing was all over the place and she was going to be light headed in this kept up.

"Looks like you're getting another chance here, Mr. Hart." Lilith scowled, all but throwing herself into a crate, taking a seat with a groan.

She scowled when Dimitri didn't move at first, only turning his head ever so slightly, "Y-you're… Y-you're not gonna…?"

"If I was going to, it would have been done already." Lilith groaned, more to herself than him. So she couldn't bring herself to kill him, and wasting time with him up against a wall wasn't making her any younger.

So, with all of that said, there was one option left that Lilith was willing to entertain.

"Why don't we make a deal?"

Dimitri had fear all over his face, yes, but also just a glimmer of hope. Just a tiny bit of optimism laid behind those pale blue eyes of his,"W-what do you have in mind?"

That was a good point. What exactly did Lilith have in mind? Honestly, to a point, she was making this up as she went. But, still…

What harm could come from keeping him alive? It wasn't like he knew WHERE they were, and with how timid the kid was, she doubted that he'd try anything too foolish any time soon. Besides, even if he didn, she had no doubt in her mind that finding and silencing him would be easy.

From there, it wasn't like hiding the body wouldn't be easy. Hell, she could probably get the Doc that spleen he had asked her for.

With that last thought in mind, she couldn't help the slight grin that crossed her face.

Yes, this could work out well.

"It's simple, really. I let you live, and in return, you do as I tell you."

Dimitri seemed to reel back when she said that, as if her words and her tone didn't match, "... S-sorry?"

"To put it bluntly, I'll own you." Lilith murmured, flicking the dirt off of her shoulder. Honestly, what was this kid expecting her deal to be?

"I… I don't think that I quite understand."

Lilith couldn't help but groan, giving him a pointed look from under her mask, "Do you need me to spell it all out for you? Term by term, penalty for penalty?"

When he didn't answer Lilith snapped her fingers, watching as her shadows weaved about the room, "Fine then, let me spell it out for you, yes?"

"You can go ahead, go on with your life, do as you please. But every now and then, I might have to call in a… favor, if you would."

"W-what?" Dimitri murmured, shoulder's shivering as his eyes darted around, watching as the surrounding darkness whipped about the shack.

"God, how do I make this more obvious?" Lilith grumbled, before snapping her fingers once more, forcing the shadows from their dance to slowly inch closer to Dimitri, "If I tell you to do something, I expect it to be done. If I ask something of you, I expect it carried out. If I tell you to kill someone, you had better expect me to tell you to hide the body, too."

Lilith watched him closely, noting how he seemed to inch into himself with each word. Good, instilling some level of fear was good. Now, to make sure the deal was understood, "Since I'm feeling generous, I'll warn you once, and only once... "

The shadows grew up and off of the walls, their sharpened points growing closer to Dimitri's face, the poor boy going frozen with fear.

"If you even THINK you can ATTEMPT to backstab me, I won't only go after you." Lilith threatened. She didn't react to the sudden dip in the temperature, nor did she notice the color draining from the shack around them, "I'll find your family, I'll find your friends. I'll destroy everything you love, and make you watch."

"Do you understand that? Or do I need to explain myself further?"

Lilith took Dimitri's whimpering and frantic nods as a yes, before taking a deep breath, returning the shack to normal. God, was her head always pounding this hard? Maybe she needed more practice with her powers.

"I'm happy that we've managed to reach an agreement, Mr. Hart." Lilith muttered, before holding out her hand, "I look forward to working with you, and whatnot."

She couldn't help but scowl at his deadfish handshake, instead squeezing her own fingers around his, as if trying to compensate for his weak grip. Dimitri yelped as a shadow twisted up and around Lilith's wrist, crossing over into his own hand before disappearing.

It was all for show, of course, but it would instill just enough anxiety and unease to keep him in line.

Hopefully.

Finally, she pulled her hand away, dusting off her jeans as she looked around, "I'll be checking in systematically with you, I expect you to uphold your part of this deal."

"I...I d-don't suppose that y-you'll warn me in advance?" Dimitri squeaked out, staring at the hand that he'd shaken with as if it were to explode at any moment, "Y-you know, for w-when you'll drop b-by?"

"That kinda defeats the purpose of the check in, don't you agree?" Lilith deadpanned, happy that some of the invisible weight on her shoulders had left, before stepping out of the shack, "Well, until then, try not to do anything too stupid, yes? I'd hate to have to replace you too soon, finding another human like you would be difficult."

Lilith stepped out into the night, breathing the cold air in deeply as she stretched. She did her best to relax, but there was this tension that was building up in the back of her mind, a mass of fear that she refused to acknowledge.

So, instead, she shook her head. She could deal with it later, she assured herself, instead busying herself with other thoughts.

Like how she was going to get home in her… condition.

"My first order to you: go back home. I'll contact you when I need to. Until then, just keep doing as you do. And, whatever you do, NEVER go past the treeline around Evergreen. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes." Dimitri muttered, allbut crawling out of the shack behind her, like some sort of dog.

"Good. I'll leave you to it." Lilith muttered, looking down at her own shadow with a groan. She really hoped that this didn't make her headache worse.

"W-wait!" Dimitri yelped, nearly tripping over himself in an attempt to stand back up, "Y-you're not worried about her coming back?"

"If she wanted to kill us, she wouldn't have let me leave." Lilith grumbled. Yeah, no way Lizzie would have let her leave. Even if she had followed, she would have attacked by now. It made no logical sense, and being how Lizzie was, Lilith doubted that she would have waited this long if she really wanted to continue her game.

At least, that's what she told herself.

"If I have to repeat my order, you'll be sorry." Lilith growled, giving him a hidden look over her shoulder. She watched as Dimitri saluted, before promptly dashing off, hopefully in the direction of his own house.

With that done, Lilith took a deep breath. This shouldn't be too hard, she assured herself, before hopping into her shadow, allowing the darkness to swallow her whole.

* * *

The moment Lilith apperated back onto the mansion grounds, she nearly collapsed. Her knees just decided to give into her buried panic, allbut giving out from under her.

Lilith refused to mentally admit that the undignified squeak did in fact come from her, instead taking a moment to steady her breathing as she leaned against a wall.

No, she could not break down, not right now. She shoved her fear to the side, attempting to stuff it back down into whatever depths it had decided to crawl out of as she made her way to the door. Each step felt like it took more effort that it should have, her throat almost constricting in on itself.

She pushed the door open with a bit more force than necessary, nearly breaking the wood from its hinges.

"Wow, someone looks like they had a hell of a night."

"Shove it, Jeff." Lilith growled, pushing past him and into the living room. Ah, thank god, just the person she needed to see, "Hey, Shad."

The Shade looked up from the book he was reading, "Ah, good evening, Lilith."

"Might I ask a favor?" Lilith groaned, unable to bring herself to sit down on the couch next to him. She knew that, if she did, her knees wouldn't allow her to stand back up.

Shad gave her a look, "Yeah, sure… What do you need?"

"Tomorrow, do you think you could help me practice? I have a lot of questions, and I don't think that anyone else here can answer them." She said sheepishly, cursing herself for sounding so meek.

Shad nodded, giving her a questioning look as he did, "Yeah, I can, but could I ask why?"

"Let's just say that something came up," Lilith muttered, before turning around, eyeing the stairs with immeasurable distaste, "And I'd like to take care of it before it can become more of a problem."

Shad looked like he was about to ask more, only to have Lilith wave him off, walking on, "Thanks again, see you tomorrow." She said quickly, before making her way to the stairs.

God, this was not going to be fun.

Each step was near agony, her hands holding onto the railing for dear life. She was at the point where she didn't know what was causing more pain, her physical injures or the mental ones.

Her knees felt like they were creaking, as if threatening to give out from under her at any second. She felt like it took an eternity to reach the second floor, but there she was. Granted, she probably looked like she was on death's door, but that didn't stop her.

Right before she could pull her door open, a cold hand found its way onto her shoulder, the very action sending chills through her body.

 _"There you are. I was wondering where you went. Are you alright?"_

"Fine, sir." Lilith muttered, wincing at how curt her answer sounded. She did her best to ignore how his hand felt like bones covered in a thin layer of skin.

"You should know by now that I don't tolerate liars, Lilith."

"Apologizes, sir." Lilith said, fighting back the shivers and shaking, "I just have a lot on my mind at the moment. That's all."

 _"... I take it that all of thus Lizzie talk hasn't been good to you?"_

"Yeah." Lilith muttered, head feeling like it was trying to escape her body at this point.

She didn't need to face him to know that he really wanted to dig deeper into the subject. But, for reasons she could only assume, he took his hand off of her shoulder, instead moving to the doorknob, _"In that case, I insist that you take the rest of the night off, as well as tomorrow."_

"Thank you for your generosity, sir." Lilith managed to get out of her throat, walking through the doorway when Slender opened it, "Goodnight, sir."

 _"Goodnight, Lilith."_

And with that, the door closed.

And with that, Lilith collapsed to her knees. She ripped her mask off, throwing it to the opposite side of the room before curling up in on herself. She held her knees close to her body, eyes wide as she stifled the panicked screams that fought to escape.

Ever so slowly, she allowed the tears to fall. She allowed the panic out, as terrifying as it was to do. She wasn't sure how loud she was being, but she damn well hoped that it wasn't too much.

She held her hands over her face, as if attempting to physically stuff her cries back in. How pathetic, she couldn't help but think, crying out like this like some sort of scared child.

But, at the same time, she did nothing more to attempt to silence herself. So, she stayed there for the rest of the night, crying and sniffling softly to herself, hoping and praying to whatever deity there was that it would be over soon.

* * *

He could hear it.

From the other side of the door, he could hear her ragged breathing, her sniffling, her strangled cries. He wanted to move away, feeling like he was intruding in on an intimate moment of sorts, but he couldn't.

So he stayed. He stood right outside her door, as if he could do anything from there. He stayed long after she stopped crying, long after she lost consciousness.

Finally, he found it in himself to step away, staring at the door as if it would solve all his problems. He couldn't risk attempting a hunt on this Shade, especially when it came to who to send.

Shad wasn't wrong, Slender couldn't help but muse, making his way back to his office. The best way to deal with this threat was to kill it before it became more of a problem. He agreed on that, but he couldn't bring himself to send anyone after Lizzie.

He couldn't afford to send HER after Lizzie.

So, once he stepped into his office, he walked over to one of his many bookcases, pulling out a few worn covers before taking a seat behind his desk.

He groaned, turning on a lamp light before looking over the books. He had an alternative, but it was going to take time to make sure everything is in place.

Putting this off would do no one any favors, he thought to himself, before opening the first of the books.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

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 **...Till next chappie, bai bai!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hi, Crimson here!**

 **Fun fact that no one asked for: My Shadows was competed in 74 days. That's 10 weeks and 4 days, or 2 months and 13 days. I did 33 chapters, each one from about 2-4k words, in 74 days. That's averaging out to about 2 or 3 chapters a week.**

 **That's assuming I did the math right, of course.**

 **… Someone please check my math.**

 **Anyway, that concludes our fun fact of the day.**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Everything was sore.

Granted, had she not had her moment last night, she was sure that it would be worse. But, considering that she was now in the backyard, practicing her stupid demon-shadow powers with aches and pains from sleeping on the floor, she couldn't help but feel just a bit irritated.

She hadn't meant to fall asleep on the floor, leaned against her door, with her spine screaming at her to wake up sooner. She hadn't meant to get up, only to jump back at the face that glared right back at her in the mirror, the tear streaks and overall dead expression stupidly scary. She hadn't meant to trip over her workout pants while attempting to put them on.

Today was gonna be one of THOSE days.

That's ignoring the burn in her knees as she walked down the stairs. She didn't even want to think about the growl of her stomach as she pushed past the fridge and towards the backyard door.

Of course, the fact that Shad seemed late didn't help in the slightest.

So, here she was, panting heavily as she looked around at the blackened desolation around her. This was supposed to help her take her mind off of things, but it only served to make her more annoyed.

She didn't get it. When it came to fights, she could conjure up whatever she wished for or needed. She had no idea where she pulled out most of her attacks from last night, and the longer she thought on it, the larger her headache became.

"I thought that we agreed that the mask doesn't help."

Lilith whipped around, giving the Shade behind her a look, not that he could see it, "You're late."

"That's no way to talk to someone who agreed to help you, little princess." Shad chuckled, surveying the damage of the surrounding area with a huff, "Besides, how was I supposed to know that you'd change our practice site? Granted, I can hardly tell with all these new craters and whatnot."

"Oh, I do apologize," Lilith spat out, ignoring the burning in her arms and legs, "Now are you going to help me, or not?"

"Yeah, but first thing's first." Shad said, grinning, "The mask gets taken off. The hoodie too, now that I think about it."

"Seriously?" Lilith couldn't help but scoff, hands moving to hold her jacket sleeves closer, "At least take me to dinner first."

"... What?"

Lilith shook her head, not wanting to explain the joke, "How is this supposed to help?" Lilith grumbled, awkwardly tugging at the bottom of her jacket.

"Just do it."

Lilith, knowing that there would be no more room to argue, took the mask off, tossing it to the ground next to her, "Now that I think about it, the eyepatch goes too."

"God, you sure you don't want to just get to the point and ask for a strip tease?" Lilith muttered to herself, tossing the old eyepatch down as well, before moving to pull her hoodie up and off as well.

She couldn't help but feel a little naked without her hoodie on, her tank top holding little to no protection for her arms. Hell, her entire upper body now felt oddly… exposed. It was only now that she noticed the wind, forcing herself stop herself from reaching up to rub her shoulders.

Was it normally this cold?

"I don't suppose that you're willing to run upstairs and change into shorts?" Shad asked, only to back down when Lilith gave him a pointed look, "Alright, fine, be like that."

"Can we begin now?" Lilith grumbled, already regretting this.

"Yep," Shad said, before pushing himself up. Or, no, his shadow rose with him still seated, as if standing up for him, "Let's start with something simple this time."

"What could be simpler than a shadow ball?" Lilith deadpanned.

"Well, for starters, being able to move your shadow about should be second nature." Shad said, holding his hand out to demonstrate. Lilith watched as the shadow sucked itself out of the earth and up his legs, traveling about his arms, fingers and neck like a moving tattoo of sorts.

With a snap of his fingers, the shadows leapt off of him and into the air, bending and floating about to his will.

"You should be able to do this with only your mind, little to no real motions." Shad mumbled, before allowing his shadow to drop back to the ground, collecting back into its natural shape under him, "Go ahead and try. I know that you should be able to do this, at least."

Lilith ignored the belittling jab, instead moving to hold her arm out. This would be simple. She did it everyday, sometimes without knowing it. Hell, she had done it on instinct when interrogating Dimitri last night.

This would be cake.

… This should be cake.

… Okay, this was getting ridiculous.

Try as she might, she barely managed to get the shadow off of the ground. Moving it about in the air, without it being connected to something? Yeah, she doubted that that was going to be possible any time soon.

"You're trying too hard," Shad murmured, taking a step back when her shadow lashed out, "It should be second nature. As easy as breathing."

"Yeah, well, it isn't right now." Lilith grumbled, ignoring how her arms were shaking a bit. She felt like she was fighting herself, attempting to control something she should already have control over.

Finally, she let out and irritated shriek, the sound more akin to a lion's roar, as she threw her arms out. The shadows imploded in on themselves, leaving random shock waves behind them.

Shad watched with wide eyes, before moving to hold his forehead, "Do you normally have problems like this?"

"Honestly, I don't think I do." Lilith muttered, looking down at her hand with a look that should have been able to kill. She felt like she was somehow sabotaging herself, almost, "Getting around isn't hard, and summoning things are second nature, but everything else seems to be very on and off."

"How so?" Shad asked, ushering her to take a seat. She didn't even notice her knees shaking before she sat down.

Instead of explaining, Lilith held her hand out. Almost immediately the shadow under her hummed, before shooting her scythe straight up and out of the ground. Lilith gripped the pole, swinging it over her shoulder, "That's simple."

"So you can't control them directly, but you can summon and teleport?" Shad muttered, as if attempting to take mental notes, "Huh… Interesting."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Normally, Shades can do that stuff AFTER the 'moving shadows' part." Shad explained, "Are you unable to control them? Perhaps there are times where they move without your direct control?"

"I noticed that my shadow likes to spike up when I'm my emotions… explode." Lilith muttered, fighting to keep the red off her face as she was reminded of the incident in the Doctor's basement lab.

"And that didn't take any direct control from you?" Shad questioned, leaning back on a nearby tree, "Like, you didn't have to manually move your hand or tell them to do that?"

"Nope."

"... Huh." Shad muttered, before taking a seat next to her, "Weird."

"What is considered 'normal' for our kind, Shad?" Lilith couldn't help but ask, not bothering to hide the venom in her voice, "Are we supposed to have some sort of grading system in place, perhaps? Is there a final that I should be studying for?"

"Shut it." Shad muttered, reaching out to flick her nose, much to Lilith's annoyance, "I'm here trying to help you, you know."

"But you're also not giving me any direct answers here, teach." Lilith couldn't help but shoot back.

"Frankly, I don't have much of an answer at the moment," Shad groaned, resting his head on his palms, "You're truly a special little snowflake, huh?"

"For some reason, that doesn't sound like much of a compliment." Lilith grumbled, holding her head for a different reason. The voices chose a good time to slowly but surely grow louder, doing nothing to help her pounding headache, "God, do they ever stop!?"

"They?" Shad asked, shooting up like she'd said something foreign.

"Do you not have the voices?" Lilith groaned, doing what she could to put up a mental block. They didn't scare her much anymore, not like the first time they made themselves known, but they had their moments, "Cause, if you don't, I'll happily give them to you."

"Voices?" Shad murmured, rolling the word off his tongue as he contemplated the word, before snapping his fingers, "Ah, that's what you're talking about!"

"A little explanation wouldn't hurt, you know."

"How do I put this…" Shad muttered, standing up in favor of pacing, hands held behind him as if they'd only get in the way, "Okay, so, a Shade is the closest being alive to death. Does that make sense?"

"Not really, no." Lilith admitted, almost sheepishly. God, is this how Dimitri felt yesterday?

She almost felt bad.

Almost.

"I guess you could call a Shade the 'bridge' between life and death, if you really wanted to." Shad said, constantly scratching his forehead as he attempted to put his thoughts into words, "We're a medium, if that makes more sense. We are the closest possible living thing to being dead, hence why we're able to see and hear on both planes of existence. Granted, the more control you get, the clearer their voices will become. At least, that's what I've been told."

"That… makes more sense." Lilith said, sighing with relief. She really wasn't sure if her brain would allow her to compute all of that, "So I'm going to guess that you hear them, too?"

"Not really, no." Shad admitted, almost sheepishly, "I used to hear them from time to time, but they just kinda… faded, eventually."

Lilith couldn't help but give him a look. He was kidding, right? Granted, they didn't bother her too much, but when they decided to gang up on her, mentally squeezing the air from her…

"So you don't have to fight them out of your head and whatnot?"

"No, not really." Shad looked like he was about to go on with that thought, only to stop himself, instead giving Lilith yet another shrug, "If anything, you're probably just more… susceptible the them than someone like me."

"Why don't they bother you?" Lilith asked, her tone more so complaining than inquisitive, "Aren't they supposed to get louder with your control, or something like that?"

"Guess I'm just a special case," Shad shrugged, before turning to her, offering her a hand, "But I think that's enough breaktime, don't you?"  
Yeah, sure, whatever." Lilith muttered, letting Shad pull her back up. The ache in her limbs had been reduced to dull throbs, mind not as muddled as it had been. Taking a deep breath, Lilith readied her stance, slamming the bottom of her palms against the sides of her head.

"...Is that necessary?" Shad asked, watching her weird little warm up ritual.

"It helps me stay in the here and now," Lilith muttered, before whipping her hand out. Progress! Her shadow slithered up from the ground onto her leg, Lilith nearly jumping at the sudden sensation. She felt like some giant, damp, and cold slug was sliding against her skin.

The moment it reached her hand, however, the voices grew in their chants. Lilith couldn't even differentiate one from another, as if all the voices were speaking with the intent of giving her a headache.

They spoke in unison, and yet, Lilith couldn't understand any of it. It all sounded like combined speech thrown through an audio distorter.

She didn't realize Shad was yelling until a cold hand whipped out to grab her wrist, pushing her to the side in order to take her place.

Lilith fell with a thud, the back of her head colliding with the gravel-ridden ground. She was ready to tell him off, give him some sort of verbal hell (She wouldn't start an actual fight with the guy willingly. With what he knew, there was no doubt in her mind that it would only end disastrously for her), only to stop when her eyes landed on… What was that?

Shad held his hands out, seemingly struggling to restrain this slit of black in the air. No, it looked more like a rip, like someone had taken a knife and cut through reality, the "skin" of this realm being pulled open by some unknown force.

It looked oddly familiar, almost like…

"What the hell!?" Shad shouted, voice sounding strained, "Opening up a Sable Void like that, what were you thinking!?"

Lilith couldn't bring herself to answer. Honestly, even if she had one, she doubt that her mouth would have complied.

She didn't know how to do that.

Hell, she didn't know she COULD do that.

"Fucking hell!" Shad shouted, arms shaking ever so slightly as he tried to bring his hands together. But, for some reason, he didn't seem able to close them together. In fact, it looked like he was under a lot of strain just keeping his hands where they were, fingers looking like some invisible force was attempting to push them apart.

"God, why the hell can't I just-." Wait, why did Shad's voice sound muffled? He was standing right there, but he sounded like he was trying to speak through a towel over his face.

"Do you plan to sit there and watch or are you going to HELP ME?"

His tone took her by surprise, legs working to pick her up before her mind could comprehend it. She'd never heard him that angry, at least, she'd never had that anger directed at her.

"How do I help? What do I do!?" Was she shouting? She felt like she was shouting, but over what? Regardless, for some reason, it felt like all sound was being drawn into the void.

It would explain why her ears felt so muffled.

"Help me close it!"

"That doesn't really explain anything!"

"Damnit!" Shad shouted, voice sounding like someone was turning his volume down, "We need to close it before he notices!"

"Still doesn't explain shit, you know!"

"HOLD OUT YOUR HANDS AND FUCKING CONCENTRATE!"

Not knowing what else to do, Lilith threw her hands out, palms almost thrown into the void. She did her best to focus, pouring all of her thoughts and energy in closing the void. Close the void. Just close the void. Why couldn't she close the-.

A sharp snap sound filled the air, and just like that, the void disappeared. It was as if nothing had ever happened, the only proof of the void even existing being Shad's still outstretched arms and Lilith's sudden deep breathing. God, why was she so light headed?

All the while, Shad just stood there, expression shaken, eyes wide and jaw on the ground. He looked at Lilith, then back to the spot the void had been open, "...How did you do that?"

Finally, regaining control over her breathing, Lilith managed to shrug, "I have no-."

 _"She didn't."_

Violent shivers ran up Lilith's spine and she whipped around, nearly tripping over her own feet as she did so.

She was aware that her boss was tall, but there is something about how the sun cast shadows over his figure that made him look a whole lot bigger. He had an arm stretched out, hand looking like he had just crushed a fly between his fingers.

"You sure did choose a good time to close it," Shad muttered, giving Slender a pointed look as he plopped back down on the ground, "Or were you just standing there dramatically and waiting for a good time to show off?"

Slender didn't even bother to spare him a look, instead moving to dust off his shoulder, _"Next time you decide to open a Sable Void, might I suggest that you do it outside the boundaries of the mansion border? We do have a separate dimension put in place for a reason."_

"It was just an accident, honest." Shad muttered before Lilith could respond, "Jeez, you really think that she would willingly open up and lose control of a Sable Void? Cause, if so, I'll be offended for her."

She was sure that, if he had eyebrows, they would be narrowed right now, _"That's no way to speak to someone who offered you assistance, Shadow lurker."_

"I do apologize, sir," Lilith was quick to add in, speaking up before Shad had the chance to say something worse, "It won't happen again."

 _"I'll hold you to that."_

It was then that a cold breeze reminded Lilith that her hoodie, as well as her mask and eyepatch, were still lying on the ground. Suddenly feeling very naked before her master, she moved to grab her mask and eyepatch, pulling it all on hastily.

All the while, Shad gave the taller being a look, "So, are you here because you need something, or…?"

 _"I wanted to know why a Sable Void had been opened. Imagine my surprise when it wasn't your doing, Shadow lurker. Granted, of course you wouldn't have been able to uphold a Sable Void of that size, much less open it properly."_

"Watch it." Shad seethed.

 _"Just making an observation. No more, no less."_

Lilith, unsure if she had any right to be in the conversation, slowly made her way towards the door. She could feel the tension rising between the two, and she didn't want to be the only one there when it broke.

That's when a sudden stabbing pain shot straight up her arm. Lilith yelped, clutching her shoulder from the sudden explosion of pain. It felt like her skin was being attacked from the inside by glass shards, each of them trying to break their way out.

She didn't realize that she had fallen to her knees until she threw one hand out in front of her, palm digging into the dirt. Her head went from too light to surprisingly heavy, as if her thoughts were attempting to escape.

A cold hand was placed on her back, her hoodie doing little to nothing to defend from the chill seeping into her. She barely registered another hand moving the mask off of her face, the back of a hand pressing against her forehead.

Within seconds Lilith felt weightless, two long arms holding her up and moving her towards the backdoor. Granted, Being how her head seemed about ready to teeter right off of her shoulders, she doubted that her legs would have been able to hold her up.

She didn't even realize that her eyes had fluttered shut, the sounds of two hushed voices drowned out by the multitude of ghostly words dancing about in her head.

* * *

"With how often she ends up down here, I am tempted to invest in a specific cot, just for her."

"I think she'd like that more than the cold steel operating table, but that's just my opinion."

"Forgive me, but I can't help but assume that you're attempting to belittle my table-Ah! She's waking up, good."

Lilith groaned, slowly sitting up as she held her head. The overall headache was gone, a dull throb replacing the chorus of voices and noise.

The cold steel under her skin was uncomfortable, but no longer surprising. She couldn't help but feel a bit exposed, even if her bare skin was still covered by her clothing.

Thank God, she really didn't want to link every visit to the basement to being striped and waking up naked.

"I take if you had a fruitful sleep?" Dr, Smiley murmured, not seeming to care for an answer as he looked over his clipboard, making a few notes as he inspected her, "Raise your left arm, please?"

"It's as comfortable as a nap of a cold table can be." Lilith muttered, lifting her left arm as requested.

"See? I'm not the only one who feels like that," Shad muttered, looking like he was about to go on, only to stop when the doctor shot him a look.

"Right arm now." Dr. Smiley instructed, taking more notes when Lilith did as she was asked, "Alright, stand up. I'm going to run you through a few questions as I continue testing your cognitive abilities."

Lilith slid off of the metal table, nearly collapsing as he knees took their time to warm up, a hand bracing itself on the table, "Are you alright, little princess?"

"Peachy," Lilith muttered, giving Shad a look, "And quit calling me that."

"Sorry, but you won't be outgrowing that nickname any time soon."

"Where's Jane?" Lilith couldn't help but ask, doing her best to get away from the previous subject. God, she hated that nickname with a passion.

"I had her moved to the back for the time being," Dr. Smiley murmured, pointing with his pen towards what Lilith assumed to be a maze of metal shelves, "I had to hook her up to a few machines to monitor her current state; it was much easier to move her back there than move all that equipment out here."

"Makes sense," Shad muttered, looking around the space before him with slight disgust, "Doesn't look like you have room out here anyway."

"Please step forth with your left leg," Dr. Smiley said, cutting the conversation off without a second thought. He made notes as Lilith did so, eyes seeming to glaze over the whole scene before him, "Do you know why you were brought down here?"

"No."

"Step forth with your right." Dr. Smiley went on, continuing to jot down his notes at his own leisure, "What is the last thing you remember?"

Lilith thought hard, her mind attempting to grasp at what little hints there were, "...I remember dropping to my knees and blacking out?"

"Anything else before the black out?" Dr. Smiley asked, finally putting his clipboard down in order to lift the back of her hoodie, inspecting her bare back closely, "A headache, perhaps?"

Lilith thought long and hard, not that the Doctor was making it any easier by putting his gloved hands on her spine, "I remember… I remember voices?"

"...Voices?" Dr. Smiley echoed, his tone almost concerned. Before Lilith could answer, he took a step away, flexing his fingers before pulling the gloves off, "Physically, there is nothing wrong with her. No signs of Aphotic Discharge, Shad."

"Oh thank God," Shad muttered, looking like he just let out a sigh of relief, before moving to pat Lilith's back, "Looks like you'll live to see another day."

"Oh, what joy."

"Before I forget," Dr. Smiley murmured, moving to take his clipboard to the counter, "Slender requested that we send you to him once you're pronounced stable."

Lilith couldn't help but cringe a bit, "I don't suppose you could pronounce my state as unstable? Just for a few hours?"

"I'll send you my spiritual regards," Dr. Smiley murmured, gesturing towards the door, "Step on it, little lady."

"That's almost as bad as little princess," Lilith muttered, shoving her hands into her pockets as she forced herself up the stairs.

"I'll be sending you the consultation fee, as well as the official medical bill." Dr. Smiley said, shooting off the offhand comment just as he heard the door close.

Dr. Smiley sighed, "Where did I put that cup," He muttered to himself, before turning to the Shade that had yet to make a move to leave, "I don't suppose you are also in need of a check up?"

"No… I do have a question, though." Shad murmured,

"What do you have to ask?"

"Do you know anything about Lilith's… Shade condition?"

"I know enough," Dr. Smiley muttered, "I'm going to go out on a limp and assume that you want to ask about her power's inconsistency?"

Shad gave the Doctor a look, trying to figure out how the hell the doctor was able to read his mind. All the while, said doctor seemed to be looking over his counter, "How did you know?"

"Call it intuition." Dr. Smiley murmured, still not bothering to turn and talk to the Shade face to face, "But, please, do voice your concerns. I may be able to offer you some words of assistance. I'm going to guess that, as a Shade attempting to teach her, you find the situation quite aggravating?"

"You have no idea," Shad sighed, his whole body language going from a sort of forced calm to jelly-like relaxed, "It doesn't make sense. During practice, her control is terrible. She can't conjure simple things, nor does she seem to have much control over anything she does manage to convene."

"I'm going to assume that there's more to this problem than just that?" The Doctor went on, picking up a cup from his counter, inspecting the dark red liquid inside carefully. For some reason, he couldn't remember for the sake of him if this was blood or his cherry pomegranate tea.

"I've seen her fight, and she's told me of the things she can do," Shad went on, hands thrown up as if to convey his vexation, "I don't understand how she's able to do that in a fight, but not during practice!"

"I see," Dr. Smiley murmured, attempting to waft the fumes coming from his cup, before turning to the Shade, "Have you, by chance, taken adrenaline into account?"

To that, Shad turned to the Doctor, a confused look on his face, "Sorry?"

"Adrenaline is a hormone that is released from a person's adrenal glands," Dr. Smiley said slowly, his tone slow and almost sarcastic, "This activates a person's fight or flight-."

"I know how adrenaline works, Doc," Shad said, cutting his off with a deadpan expression, "I want to know what you think that's a factor."

"Think about it, every time Lilith has used her power has either been in a fight or after, excluding the times she moves things such as objects and herself with her shadow," Dr. Smiley went on, moving to pour something into the cup, watching it closely as the liquid gave off a puff of purplish smoke, "So maybe it's not her control that is in need of practice. Hell, if what I'm thinking is correct, the practice that you're providing may be a bit counterintuitive."

Shad gave the doctor a look, watching as the man turned towards the sink, back turned to him, "Are you trying to tell something, Doctor?"

"I'm just making notes of what I'm hearing," The Doctor murmured, pulling his mask up just a bit in order to take a sip from his cup, making a face when the liquid touched his tongue. It was neither blood, nor was it his tea. Regardless, he threw the rest of the liquid back, putting the cup in the sink before pulling his mask back up, "But that depends, would you like my advice?"

"Depends on what it could lead to."

"If done wrong, you could end up with a dead Shade and a very angry tall and pale entity," Dr. Smiley shrugged, his throat burning ever so slightly, "But, if done right, it could prove a theory."

Shad couldn't help but give the doctor a look, feeling this odd mix of shock and disbelief. For some reason, it took a lot of effort to wrap his head around the fact that, out of everyone else within the mansion, this was the guy who had the closest thing to a medical degree, and was thus thought to be one of the smartest.

"...What do you have in mind?"

* * *

Each of Lilith's footsteps felt heavy and each step up the stairs feeling heavier than the last.

She never did like the intense stress that came with a summons, nor did she like the anxiety that came with standing before his door. She couldn't help but feel like a bad girl that had been called to the office, waiting for the inevitable yet soul-crushing talk that was sure to follow.

Shaking her head, she forced her hand to grab the doorknob, the other curled into a fist in order to knock on the door, "Sir, you wished to see me?"

The seconds of silence that followed did nothing to ease the tension off of her. If anything, it managed to do the exact opposite. She didn't have to turn around to feel a cold shiver travelling up her spine, her shadow twitching and churning about ever so slightly.

 _"Come in."_

With no way out now, Lilith pushed the door open, admittedly a bit surprised by the sight before her. The normally clean office-like area looked like a library warzone, books littering the floor and table, the shelves practically barren.

In the middle of the chaos, her boss sat behind his desk, with a book in his hands and two others in his tendrils.

 _"I apologize for the mess, I've been a bit busy as of late."_

"Think nothing of it, sir." Lilith said, quick to wave it off as she took the only free seat in the room. The quicker this was over, the quicker she could go back to sleep, "How may I be of assistance?"

 _"I'll need to ask a favor of you,"_ Slender murmured, seemingly engrossed in whatever he was reading, _"In order to deal with our… present issue, I'll be taking a trip. I do not yet know when I will be returning, but until I get back, I'm placing Sally's wellbeing in your hands."_

Lilith nodded subconsciously, partly due to how she'd grown used to having things asked of her, "If I may ask, where do you plan on going?"

 _"That is none of your concern."_

As much as his stern tone stung, Lilith shook it off. Of course he wouldn't tell her, he had no reason to, "It will be done. Is there anything else you require of me, sir?"

 _"No, I have nothing more to say."_ Slender murmured, attention seemingly on anything but their conversation, before he lowered his books. Lilith couldn't help but feel her skin prickle, her master's undivided attention something she could never grow used to.

 _"Unless, of course, there is something you wish to bring to my attention?"_

Lilith couldn't help the sudden spike in dread. Was he hinting at his knowledge at something, hoping that this prompting would pull it out of her? Did he know something? Or perhaps he felt as if her constant nervousness was a tell of some sort of secret she'd been keeping.

Or maybe he knew about Dimitri.

God, that was not a good turn. If he knew, surely she'd be punished for not only allowing a human to live, but for her own inability to kill him. Who knew what kind of punishment could come with that sort of treason? Surely, using a human as a pawn in such away, allowing them to live and stay amongst-

Lilith forced her nerves down, taking a deep breath in. What felt like hours of apprehension had been no more than three seconds.

Finally, she levelled her gaze with her master, thankful for the mask over her face, "No, sir."

The apprehension that followed in those seconds were dreadful, but over with quickly. He nodded, attention turning back to his books, _"Very well. You're dismissed."_

Lilith nodded, doing her best not to bolt up from her chair. She gave a shallow bow, making her way towards the door. Each step felt lighter than the last, and the moment she was on the safe side of the door, she let out a relieved sigh.

She made her way towards her own room, a humorless snigger fighting its way out of her mouth, eyes wide with a mix of fear and near absurdity.

God, it was a miracle she hadn't had a heart attack yet, honestly.

* * *

Normally, the Evergreen Forest was silent, often deserted for obvious reasons.

But, for some reason, if someone were to listen closely, they'd hear a pleasant yet out-of-place noise.

Humming.

If your curiosity were to take over, forcing you to step closer and closer to the eerie yet serene sound, you'd find a clearing in the trees.

In the middle, you'd see a little girl, humming to herself as she reached down, taking hold of an arm before moving the body.

You'd see that her dark blue eyes sparkled with glee, pupils blown wide open. The grin on her face would be dripping with blood, teeth glistening from the sun's light.

She would drop the body, before clapping to herself, twirling around the plain, "This is hard work!" She'd seemingly say to herself, giggling as she danced across the red-stained grass, "All of this hunting and gathering, all the killing and moving, it really is tough!"

"Not that I mind all that much, though," She'd go on, grinning maniacally down, eyes drinking in the sight of the multitude of mutilated bodies that laid before her, "I understand why it needs to be done. After all, an Ersatz can't open a proper Sable Void on their own! Hell, even if I wanted to open a portion of a window, it would still require a LOT of blood."

"Daddy asked me to do the deed," She'd go on, happily taking hold of the leg of a little girl, moving her as she skipped about, giggling to herself, "He said that, if I can get this to work, I will be able to bring big sister back home! He said that I'd be able to play with big sister whenever I please."

She would giddily throw her head back, laughing with glee as she flexed her hand, nails growing into talons, "She'd have no one else but me. She'll have no one else to turn to, no one else to run to. I would be the only one, I'll be all she needs."

"She doesn't see it, she's too blind to see what's really happening!" The girl went on, her voice loud and exaggerated as she twirled about, "She doesn't see that they don't love her like I do! All they do is use her, especially that tall and STUPID Slenderman!"

"She can't see it, but I don't blame her. She's spent too much time with them, she's brainwashed at this point, indoctrination and propaganda has already taken hold! But that's okay, I can save her. I can take her away, to somewhere safe. Somewhere where THEY can't keep her from me anymore. I'll do what I couldn't do for her before; I'll keep her safe. Then we can have fun and play forever! Nothing could be better than that!"

She'd then turn to you, eyes wide with exhilaration, "Wouldn't you agree, stranger?"

* * *

 **I feel like I've entered a sort of jaded stage of my fanfiction years.**

 **Wow I feel old saying it like that, but it doesn't really change the sentiment.**

 **Don't get me wrong, I still love writing and I plan to finish what I started. But jumping from the middle school mindset of "Hey, Creepypasta is cool and I have this cool idea for a character that'll get together with my favorite Creepypasta character" doesn't really translate well to the present me.**

 **It's hit me how OC/Mary Sue/Ultimate cringe fest this has become. In my mind, at least.**

 **Lilith: Oh, so I'm the cringy one, sure. Let's just ignore the sailor-mouthed water bender, the spitfire fire bender, and literally EVERYONE ELSE YOU'VE PRODUCED.**

 **Me: Shut up, I did not ask?**

 **Anyway, where was I...**

 **Oh yeah, Cringe. So, umm... IDK, maybe I just need another 3 years from this whole thing. Or, to be more specific, 2 years, 3 months and 10 days.**

 **I'm kidding.**

 **...Anyway, till next chappie, bai bai!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi, Crimson here!**

 **Totally meant to miss last week's update. Yep. Totally part of the plan.**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Dimitri let out an undignified yelp, the sudden and blaring sound of his alarm going off sending him tumbling out of bed in fright. He groaned, his hand thrown up onto his nightstand, searching for his alarm clock. When he finally found the damned thing, he attempted to find the off button, only to instead accidently send the alarm clock tumbling off of the nightstand. Thanks to gravity, it fell directly onto his head.

God, his luck was pure and utter trash. He couldn't help but feel like some sort of beacon for bad luck.

He couldn't help but wonder: was it really bad luck when all his days were like this? He contemplated that thought as he brushed his teeth, only to choke when he accidently pushed his toothbrush down his throat, his attempt at brushing his tongue instead giving his throat a rather traumatic experience.

He took his time in his room, looking over his closet to see what he could wear. Granted, he didn't own a lot, but what he did own were hand-me-downs. From band shirts that were two sizes too big, to sleeveless shirts with satanic messaging and cuts that made him look like he was trying to wear a halter top.

Yep, he had his older cousins to thank for all of this.

Finally deciding that a borderline halter top with a death metal mickey was a better choice than a t-shirt depicting what was essentially porn, he pulled on some shorts and proceeded to nearly tripped down the stairs. Thankfully, his backpack served as a cushion. Unfortunately, it had decided to rip open on his way down, spilling his textbooks, notes and pencils all over the ground.

Cursing, he rushed to pick it all up, choosing to ignore the tear in his bag at the moment. If Mr. Smith's class was going to be more reviewing for finals, he'd have time to stitch his bag back up. Not that he was trying to brag or anything, but he could safely say that, unlike most of the rest of the class, he had a fair grasp of the material. Granted, he did spend a lot of his free time researching about psychology and how the human brain functioned, but that's besides the point.

Turning to step into the kitchen, he nearly slipped on the tiled ground. Only then did he notice that the glossy tile looked wet, as if it had just been mopped.

"Mom, why is the floor mopped? I did it last night."

In the kitchen, a woman whipped around from the stove, her expression going from dull to bright in a manner of seconds as she rushed over, seemingly unaffected by the mopped ground as she grabbed Dimitri by the shoulders, "Ah, is that you, Robin?"

Dimitri did his best to smile, accepting the kisses his mother placed on his forehead, "Mom, it's me, your son? Dimitri?"

"Dimitri?" His mother murmured, her eyes blank. All Dimitri could do was keep his smile as best as he could, ignoring the pang of pain in his chest, "You must be mistaken, I don't have a son…"

In an instant, her demeanor changed from confused to cheery, holding her hand out as if greeting him for the first time, "Hello, I'm Emilia! Have you seen my Robin? I haven't seen her for… For a long time. I'm getting quite worried."

"I'll be sure to keep a lookout, mom," Dimitri murmured, moving to grab the handle of the frying pan, flipping pancakes before they could burn, "Uncle Vic is going to come by later this morning. He should be here in the next half hour or so."

"Ah, maybe Vic has my Robin," His mother murmured, seemingly content with standing in the middle of the kitchen, her hands fidgeting and pulling at each other. Dimitri couldn't help but watch with concern as her leg began to bounce at a rapid pace, his mother's eyes darting about in an almost delirious manner.

Dimitri shook his head, turning his attention back to the pancakes. As if on cue, his mother began humming to herself, interrupting herself every now and then in order to make what he assumed were random bird chirps.

Once the pancakes were done, Dimitri plated them, moving towards the table, "Pancakes are done, mom."

Dimitri made sure that the pancakes weren't going to fall off the table, before moving to guide his mother towards the table, helping her sit down, "You stay here, I'm going to go and get you a drink, okay?"

He was used to his mother's silent response, moving to the counter in order to grab a cup of water. He then moved towards the locked cabinet that stood over the sink, punching the code in before opening it. He couldn't help but feel relieved that, for once in a long time, there was enough here to keep them going for at least a month.

God, those days when the meds ran low were the worst.

He nearly had a heart attack when the container slipped from his hands, almost colliding with the floor and spilling the contents all over the floor. After a lot of fumbling, he finally managed to get a good hold on the container, a relieved sigh making its way out of him.

Measuring off the right amount of powder, he mixed it into the cup before handing it to his mother, "Here."

She took the cup almost greedily, chugging the liquid as if it were the most delicious thing on earth. Once that was done, he took the cup back, filling it back up with water before placing it back down in front of her, making sure to keep it far from the edge before taking the other chair.

He hated it, honestly. He knew that it was for her own good, especially when you take into consideration what happened when she didn't get her meds on time. Uncle Vic had insisted that not telling her was better than having her fight against it.

"Ignorance is bliss," Uncle Vic would insist, "Think of it as less of a lie and more of a… A situation where information is withheld."

Dimitri wasn't entirely sure at the time, but he was pretty sure that withholding information was another form of lying.

He was dragged out of his mind when something sticky and cold landed on his hand. Looking down, he couldn't help but scowl, how the hell did he manage to pour syrup on his hand instead of his plate?

Grumbling, he did his best to wipe the sticky mess off his hand and onto the tablecloth, only to then realize how stupid that move had been.

Oh well, it was too late to back out now.

"My Robin, dark Robin, where have you flown?" His mother sang to herself, seemingly in her own little world as she ate, "You dear silly bird, you've left me alone."

Dimitri did his best to ignore his mother's rambles, instead focusing on what had to be done. After school, he'd have to go back to the mall to see if he could find himself a job. Just because he had been turned down countless times didn't mean that there wasn't a job out there that wouldn't accept him.

He was ripped from his thoughts when he brought his fork down on his hand rather than his pancakes.

Stifling a yelp, Dimitri shot straight up, his mother following his sudden movement in confusion, "Are you alright?" She asked, seemingly confused as to why there was a fork sticking out of his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Dimitri groaned, pulling the fork out of his hand before wincing. Damn, that wasn't going to look nice in the next five seconds. Thankfully, it didn't seem as if the fork prongs went to deep, and while he would normally pull a bandaid over the wound, the bus was going to be here soon and he didn't want to be late.

Again.

"Alright, I've gotta go now," Dimitri muttered, one hand placed over the other as he walked out, "Bye, ma."

"No, wait!" Dimitri yelped, nearly falling on his ass from the sudden pull back. His mother had grabbed onto his backpack, her hands shaking, "Have you seen my Robin? I need help finding my Robin! No one else is willing to help me, please, help me!"

Dimitri's heart panged, his stature nearly falling apart at how broken his mother looked, "I'm going to go out and look, okay?" Dimitri soothed, his lies instantly putting his mother at ease.

"Alright… Alright…" She murmured, eyes looking a bit more sedated. Dimitri couldn't help but feel relieved that the medication had taken its effect, nor could he help his hate for thinking such a thing, "Robin, my Robin… Wherever have you flown?"

He watched as his mother turned around, heading back into the house, making bird noises as she walked off.

It took a lot of willpower to walk out of the house, and more to walk down to the bus stop.

He really hoped that Uncle Vic would get to the house sooner, feeling uncomfortable with the idea of leaving his mother home alone. He shook the thoughts from his head. No, she had gotten her medication. She would be okay, just like she had been okay for the past two weeks now. The medicine would do its job, and Dimitri would be worrying over nothing.

But what if it didn't work?

Again he shook his head, an irritated groan escaping his mouth. No, she'd be fine. She often started that day like that, this was normal. Sure, she had better days, but today had been NOTHING when compared to the bad days.

Those days that he'd wake up to her screaming and crying downstairs, throwing things about the living room as she frantically searched the house for something that had never existed in the first place.

God, those days where she'd look at him like some sort of monster, the days where she'd fight him tooth to nail in order to avoid taking her meds, the days she'd fight against him like a feral animal. The honk of the bus' horn made him yelp, his dazed mind making him oblivious to the bus full of other kids, each of them either glaring or yelling about how he was going to make them all late.

Dimitri groaned, walking into the bus, before taking a seat as far from everyone else as possible.

Yep, today wasn't a good one, not by a long shot. But hey, it could have been so much worse.

* * *

Being how yesterday went, the current general sense of ease was throwing Lilith off.

When she had woken up that morning, she had expected to go out, only to remember what had been requested of her. So, instead of pulling on her usual attire, she figured that a casual t-shirt and sleep shorts would be good enough for the day.

She took a moment to level an evaluating look with her mask, the plastic resting on her desk in a suspiciously innocuous manner. She shook her head, figuring that the mask would be more of a nuisance than a help, instead opting for just the eyepatch.

She was surprised to find a paper on her desk, the script handwriting undoubtedly Slender's. He had taken the time to write out Sally's favorite foods, what time she normally took naps, as well as a (rather short) list of others Lilith could dump Sally on if she had to leave.

She opened her door, still reading the note as she made her way towards Sally's room. She couldn't help but read the list of names over once more. Painter and Puppeteer had been listen together (which made sense. One would be the authority while the other was the entertainment), as well as Ben and LJ. Granted, the latter duo had been written under the "Only if none of the previously stated are available", but still.

She didn't even get the chance to knock on Sally's door, instead jumping back when it swung open, "Heya, Lilith!"

"Good morning, Sally." Lilith couldn't help but return her jubilant smile, Sally's happiness being infectious, "Would you like to have some breakfast?"

"No thank you, daddy made me some pancakes before he left," The little girl grinned, stepping back to allow Lilith into her room, "He told me that he's going to be gone for some time, and that you'll be watching me."

"I see." Lilith said, relieved that Slender had cleared that up with the little girl. Lilith had no idea how she'd take the information of Slender's sudden departure, especially when you factor in how blunt Lilith tended to to be, "Well… What do you want to do?"

For some reason, Lilith did NOT like the grin that Sally sported. It looked just a bit too… maniacal.

"I was thinking that, you know," Sally grinned, closing the door behind her before pressing her back up against the wood, attempting to keep Lilith inside, "We could, maybe, play dress up."

Lilith hadn't meant to drop down into her shadow, but she didn't really complain when her first instinct was to drop out of Sally's room and into the kitchen.

Much to Jeff's disapproval.

"What the ACTUAL FUCK, SHADOWS!?"

Lilith sped out of the kitchen, pointedly ignoring Jeff's outrage, as well as the knife that had found itself embedded in the wall next to her head.

She quickly turned the corner to the living room, relieved to find Ben on the couch, playstation controller in hand, "Hey."

"Hey." Ben replied, eyes glued to the TV.

Slowly, Lilith took a seat on the couch, shoulders tense as her knee bounced. Lilith knew that she was only prolonging the inevitable, mind racing as it attempted to figure out the best way around this.

She loved Sally, but there was no way in hell she was going to comfortably put a dress on.

"Noticed you decided to forego the mask," Ben murmured, eyes having yet to leave the TV, "You just trying to go for a pirate look for today, or-?"

"I need to call in a favor." Lilith said, effectively cutting him off. She could hear a door opening from upstairs.

Sighing, Ben paused the game, glaring at her knee as if it were the one most irritating thing in the world, "I don't recall you having any favors to call in."

"Are you trying to pretend that the water hose incident didn't happen?"

Lilith didn't miss how his pupils shrunk, only to have him shake it off, "

The wood of the stairs creaked under light but present weight.

"Ben, I swear to God," Lilith growled, barely noticing how the room seemed to grow slowly but surely colder, "I will figure out how to physically hurt you-."

"Okay, fine, fine." Ben muttered, throwing his hands up, "What do you want out of-?"

"Lilith! We're not going to play hide and seek until later! Where did you go?"

Lilith's relief was almost completely replaced once more with dread, only to gesture to Ben, "Sorry, Sally! You were talking about playing dress up, and I decided to get someone else who wanted to play!"

The moment those words left her mouth, Ben's expression went from indifferent to horrified, eyes skating from Lilith's "apologetic" shrug and Sally's excited expression, "You mean it?"

"Mmhmm." Lilith hummed, giving Ben an almost challenging look.

Ben's expression morphed from scared to bitter, giving Lilith a dirty look as he realized how trapped he was.

"I mean, that's only if Ben wants to," Lilith went on, shrugging as she lifted her hands, as if she had no part in the current predicament, "You can't just expect him to agree."

Lilith could see the smoke rising out of Ben's ears. She could feel it: he knew he couldn't just turn Sally down without a good enough excuse.

Even then, the thought of letting Sally down was just a bit too much on him.

Curse his empathy.

"Will you play dress up with me, Ben?" Sally asked, flashing him the biggest puppy dog eyes he had ever seen.

Ben's shoulders slumped, fate having had been long since sealed as he nodded.

Sally jumped with joy, shouting about how she'd get everything set up and make Ben look pretty as she rushed back up the stairs.

"...Fuck you." Ben growled once they heard the door slam shut, "This is going to count for two, no, three favors. I want you to find me an Atari the next time you go out, you understand me?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine by me," Lilith shrugged, almost a little too happy to be shouldering the burden off of herself and onto him, "Don't make that face, Bennifer, make-up won't be able to make it pretty."

"Oh, fuck off, Lily," Ben shot right back, hopping off of the couch as he dragged his feet toward the stairs, "No one in the right mind would outright deny Sally."

"Personally, I think that you're the best candidate for dress up," Lilith said, shrugging as she defended herself, nearly giggling at the way that Ben stomped his way up the stairs, "I mean, you rock that tunic pretty well."

"Oh, whoop de fuckin' doo," Ben muttered, tone pure sarcasm as he got to the top and spun around, striking a pose, "Someone get a camera, I'm about to become the elegant queen of this land and I ain't gonna do it again if you missed it."

* * *

Lilith couldn't help but feel as if she blinked and missed it all.

There sat Ben, head held high in order to fit his regal stature.

"Aaaaaaaand your transformation is complete!" Sally grinned, stepping back to admire her work, "May glory be onto you, Queen Bennifer!"

It took so much willpower not to laugh outright. Maybe it was the way that the dress Ben had on was two sizes too small, or perhaps it was how the candy-colored makeup had been applied to everywhere.

No, Lilith thought, it was because oh how well Ben was rocking it.

He had to force a hand over her mouth when Ben struck another pose, eyes threatening to water.

She had meant it as a joke, saying that Ben would be able to rock it.

She had no idea how much he'd take her idea to heart.

There he was, one hand placed on the back of his head, the other dramatically and delicately holding his waist. Sally had insisted that he took his hat off, allowing her to put little viking braids all over his head.

She had no idea how, but his whole posture screamed "QUEEN" while his eyes screamed "SOMEONE PLEASE KILL ME AGAIN".

Ben truly was a man of many talents.

Sally looked more than pleased with herself, backing up to admire her handy work, much like an artist taking a step back to marvel their painting, "You look very nice, if I do say so myself!"

"I'm beautiful." Lilith nearly chortled at Ben's blatant sarcasm, his eyes looking more lifeless than normal as he struck another pose, "I can feel the pure elegance pouring from my pores. Such poise, such beauty; truly I've ascended to a new level of grace."

"Alas, no!" He then dropped to his knees dramatically, his eyes giving nothing away as Lilith forced herself to turn around, pushing both hands over her mouth in an attempt to stifle the gross snorts leaving her mouth, "I have refined grace, don't you think? I am now THE definition of grace!"

Lilith forced herself to turn back around, composing herself. She caught Ben's expressionless look, both fascinated and concerned with how Ben was able to somehow convey so much emotion.

Sally, seemingly oblivious to the blatant sarcasm leaving Ben's mouth, grinned and danced around him, "All hail the queen, for she is all powerful!"

She honestly wasn't sure if this was real or not, part of her mind believing that this was just some sort of delirious fever dream.

Lilith was more than thankful for the knock that came to Sally's door, "I'll get it!"

"Leave me to die and there will be hell to pay," Ben spat through closed teeth, voice just soft enough to go unnoticed, "That's a promise, Lil' Lily."

"Wow, so scary," Lilith muttered, turning to open the door, "I'm not sure if you can hear it over all of that makeup, Ben, but I'm shaking in my boots."

She ignored the fake laughter from behind her, instead opening the door, coming face to face with the tall monochrome clown.

He didn't seem to see her, quite literally looking right over her head with confused eyes, "Ben, you left the- What the hell?"

It was hilarious, seeing LJ's face go from a bit irked to confused, and then explode into a fit of giggles, "Oh my God, what… Why the hell… What even…?"

"Don't. Laugh." Lilith grunted, forcing words out of closed teeth, "I've been holding it in for so long, don't fuck this up for me."

Sally spun around, beaming up at the lanky clown, "Isn't he pretty?" Sally asked, stars in her eyes.

Lilith shot LJ a warning look, almost as if she were attempting to force the clown's cackles down with her own sheer will.

"Yep, he's pretty damn pretty." LJ managed to stammer out, attempting to grin without laughing too hard, reaching down to pat Sally's head, "You did a great job, kid."

Sally grinned, giggling to herself under LJ's praise, eyes lighting up once more, "Can I make you pretty, LJ?"

"Ahh…" LJ's tone went from whimsical to almost panicked, casting Lilith a pleading look.

"But Sally, didn't you want to play hide and seek?" Lilith quickly butted in, winking when LJ gave her a thankful nod.

A thoughtful look crossed Sally's face, eyes lighting up as she snapped her fingers, "You're right, Lilith! Thanks for reminding me!"

"How about you go and hide, and I'll come find you?" Lilith suggested, slowly ushering the child out of the room, but not before throwing a look over her shoulder to LJ, eyes darting from Ben to the door, "I'll give you, say, five minutes to hide."

"Okay!" And with that, Sally ran off, giggling quietly to herself as she dashed off down the hall.

As soon as Sally was out of sight, Lilith let out a sigh of relief, turning back to look into the room, "What's the damage looking like, LJ?"

"You were the one watching it go down," LJ muttered, attempting and failing to remove the little braids in Ben's hair, "You tell me: does this look like damage to you?"

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" Ben shouted, before finally batting LJ's claw-like fingers away, "Shit, you're making it worse, dumbass!"

"At this point, I'm pretty sure that anything I do is an improvement." LJ muttered under his breath, watching as Ben hobbled out of the room, stopping in order to kick the plastic heels off, "What do you plan to do, Ben? Strut all you like, that dress looks like it's spiritually weighing you down."  
The two withheld a light chuckle as Ben flipped them the bird over his shoulder, doing his best to dramatically strutting over to his room, pulling the door open before throwing himself against it, "Tease all you like, it's just you being jealous of the royalty exuding."

LJ full on chortled at that, watching as Ben spin into his room, "Oh, my queen, please spare me for my heresy, I never meant to speak against thee!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

"My queen," LJ managed, throwing his head back as he dropped down to one knee, one hand placed on his chest as he thrusted out the other, "Allow me to properly bask in your glory, to praise your provocative image!"

Lilith waited with bated breath, eyes trained on Ben's open doorway. Right as she assumed that the two would drop the joke, Ben kicked his leg out, bending his foot as if he were pointing to the opposite side of the hallway.

"PRAISE THIS!"

That properly broke LJ, who fell right on his face as he laughed, arms unable to pull himself back up as Ben pulled his door to slam shut dramatically.

Lilith attempted to take that all in, staring at the fallen clown as if that would answer all of her questions.

Yep, Lilith was sure of it, this was a stress-induced fever dream.

"Holy fuck," LJ wheezed, attempting to wipe away the tears forming under his eyes, "How'd you get him to do it, Lollipop?"  
"Guess."

"...Water hose incident?"

"Water hose incident."

That only got another round out of LJ, Lilith taking a step as he (somehow) managed to flop backwards on his knees, "Jesus, remind me to never be in debt to you, Lollipop."

"Like I'd ever do that," Lilith scoffed, grabbing onto LJ's hand when he threw it toward her, leaning back as she helped to pull him back up to his feet, "So, I have to go and find Sally… I don't suppose you could-?"

"Say no more, I'm on it." LJ said with a grin, pulling a small digital camera from… Lilith had no idea where it pulled it from, actually, "This is gonna be good."

"If Ben asks, I had nothing to do with this." Lilith insisted, walking past him as she tried to narrow down the places that Sally would have chosen to hide in.

"Ha, did you really think that I was waiting for your OK or something?" With that, the two split ways, LJ more than happy to collect more blackmail on the gaming ghost, Lilith doing her best to fight the grin off of her face.

Who cared if she had no idea what had happened? It was enjoyable to watch and, even if it was a bit stupid and childish, she honestly felt like she deserved a good smile.

With that thought, Lilith looked up and down what seemed to be endless corridors.

Maybe giving Sally five minutes was a bit too much.

* * *

After what felt to be at least half an hour, Lilith was sure that Sally had just disappeared. Sure, the mansion was huge, but Lilith was sure she checked everywhere.

She had gone to the obvious places first: the kitchen cabinets, the couch, Lilith even checked that weird wardrobe that was, for some reason, just standing off to the corner of the living room. She checked every little nook and cranny, and then doubled back around to check them again just incase.

Nothing.

Lilith had half the mind to begin barging into the multitude of bedrooms, but quickly thought against it. She was sure that, ghostly or not, Sally wouldn't decide to hide in someone else's bedroom.

Especially when you take the psychotic and easily aggressive temperaments of most of the residents.

Lilith took a second to think, so deep in her own head that she was oblivious to how her shadow seemed to seep out of itself, slowly becoming hazy as it spread.

She had gone to all of the obvious places, and had taken to checking all of the mutual rooms first. She wasn't in the kitchen, living room; anywhere on the first floor, really. She wasn't in her room, nor was she in Lilith's own room, so where the hell-

She was pulled from her head, quite physically, by what felt like a light tug. It felt like someone had tied a thin string around her spine, and was now gently tugging on it.

She didn't even realize that she had been walking up the stairs until she nearly tripped over the last step, arms flailing about in order to keep balance.

She looked down the hall, slowly but surely walking on. The tug was growing insistent, as if urging Lilith to walk on. She walked past Sally's door, and then her own, eyes narrowed with confusion.

She stopped right in front of Slender's door, head tilted to the side in confusion. There was no way that she'd be in there, right?

She reached out to touch the door, surprised when it silently gave way. There was no way that Slender would leave his office open like this, especially when he would be gone for who knows how long, right?

Quietly, Lilith stepped into the ever emaculate office, noting how most of the mess had been cleaned.

Lilith looked the desk over, mind momentarily wandering away from the task at hand as she looked the strange book over.

It looked to be leatherbound, the patches and cracks giving a look like old skin. On the front, it looked like someone had taken a pen and heavily etched into it multiple times, giving it an uneasy look to it. Lilith tilted her head back, staring at the single letter on it.

"R".

Lilith studied the book over, confusion evident on her face, before it finally clicked.

This was the book that Shad had been talking about, R's Diary.

She barely noticed her hands shaking, eyes fixated on the book. If Shad was to be believed, than everything she'd need would be in there. She could kill Lizzie with this. And, with all the information that was most likely written in there, who knew what else she could learn? She still had so many questions about herself, most of which would either be unanswerable to most or just flat out declined for their suspicious natures.

For all she knew, this book could answer every question she ever had about herself.

She noted the bookmark that stuck out from the worn pages, ever so slightly making itself known. How easy would it be to just pick the book up and see where the last reader left off?

If she squinted, she could see the top page was lifted, just a tiny bit. Lilith resisted the urge to lean closer, instead squinting in order to make out a single word.

"Ersatz".

What the hell was that?

...What was the harm in finding out?

A sudden sound jolted Lilith from her head, an odd stinging sensation running up her left arm.

She looked down, confused. Her left had been outstretched, right tightly gripping the left's wrist, as if to stop herself before she could grab the book.

The book was right there, a possible answer to all of her questions.

It would be so easy to read, hell, she could probably skim through it and feel enlightened.

So WHY wasn't she grabbing it?

"Lilith?"

Lilith jumped at the sound of her name, instinctively looking over her shoulder at the door, even if the voice had come from in front of her.

Lilith whipped back around when something bumped the desk, Sally's head popping out from the other side of the desk, a big smile on her face, "What are you doing?"

"I…" Lilith muttered, before allowing her arms to fall at her sides, "I was looking for you. I had no idea where you were."

Sally shook her head, giggling in a harmless teasing manner, "Silly Lilith, I was right here! You didn't look hard enough!"

"Yeah, looks like you're right, Sally." Lilith agreed, eyes fighting against the urge to drift back to the diary.

Sally seemed to pick up on Lilith's discomfort, walking around the desk to stop on the side, head tilted to the side, "Are you okay, Lilith?"  
"Hmm? Yeah," Lilith nodded, quickly shaking her head, "I'm fine. But, there is something that would make me feel better."

"Oh?" Sally asked, eyes wide as she listened closely.

Lilith quickly held her hand out, fingers shaking ever so slightly as she reached around the desk, "I think some lunch would make me feel better, what about you?"

"Okay!" Sally grinned, agreeing quickly before grabbing Lilith's outstretched hand, nearly dragging Lilith out of the office, "

"Whatever you want, Sally." Lilith insisted, not daring to turn back around as she closed Slender's office door behind them, making sure it was locked before walking on.

As strong as temptation was, it would appear as if her fear was stronger.

* * *

 **...I wonder what would happen if I tried to do what I did with CIRP and just...speedrun this.**

 **Write a chapter a day and upload without a second thought.**

 **...Nah, I'd probably go insane like that.**

 **...Anyway, till next chappie, bai bai!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi, Crimson here!**

 **(Insert witty joke about how I'm not late to update and how you're all just early here)**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

She had nothing against Sally.

Hell, if Lilith was being honest with herself, she loved Sally like she was her own.

But, after two whole weeks of staying and watching the little girl, cabin fever was slowly but surely making itself known.

She wasn't sure how badly she covered it up on the outside, choosing to wear the mask in an attempt to save face, but she wasn't too sure how well that was working.

She felt like she was just going through the motions at this point:  
Wake Sally up, make breakfast, play with/watch her, make lunch, play with/watch her, make dinner, play with/watch her, get her to bed, proceed to attempt death-like sleep.

Normally she liked routine, but this much structure to it was becoming more suffocating than helpful.

She thought nothing of the hand that had found itself on her shoulder, nor did she blink when her opposite hand reached up to grab the opposer's wrist.

"Damn, you look as tired as a new single mother."

"I don't recall asking for your opinion, Shad." Lilith growled, thankful for the mask that kept her nasty expression to herself.

Shad pulled his hand from her grip, opting to sit down on the couch next to her rather than looming over her from behind, "Whether you asked or not isn't relevant, you look like you're about to die."

"Don't be dramatic," Lilith chided, but to whom she had no clue. Her eyes were trained on Sally, the little girl sitting in front of the TV with her teddy bear, Charlie, "This isn't even difficult; I just have to watch and feed Sally until Slender gets back."

"Ignoring how he failed to give you a 'return date', that doesn't mean that it isn't difficult on you mentally," Shad murmured under his breath, careful to be quiet around Sally, "You look like a

"I can't really deny that claim." Lilith admitted, voice almost bitter.

Shad seemed to give her an evaluating look, before nodding to himself, standing up, "Go away."

"... I'm sorry?" Lilith muttered, giving Shad a look as he moved to shoo her off of the couch.

"You need a break, so I'm giving you one." Shad said, sighing when Lilith didn't budge from her seat, "Come on, princess; I'm giving you an out here!"

"I don't recall asking you to give me a break." Lilith snapped softly, eyes having yet to leave Sally, "Besides, if I am to leave, Slender made it clear that she stays with Puppeteer, or Painter, or-."

"I'll grab them," Shad muttered, dismissing her doubt with a wave of his hand, finally losing his patience before snapping his fingers. Lilith yelped as something pushed her up and off of the couch, glaring down the shadow as it slid back into the couch, "Stop looking for excuses and take care of yourself."

"Lilith? Is something wrong?" Sally asked, pausing her show in order to turn around, head tilted to the side, Charlie held close.

Shad gave Lilith a knowing look, as if to say "Well? Out with it."

Lilith scowled, weighing her options here. She had been told to watch Sally, but it wasn't like she was the only one that had to do it. Besides, it might be best for everyone if she gave herself a break BEFORE her mind snapped rather than after…

"I'm fine," Lilith insisted, pulling herself up from the floor, words sounding clipped and almost forced, "Sally, how would you feel if Shad watched you for a bit?"

Sally's expression turned to slight confusion, looking Shad over as if she didn't know if he was really there or not, "...I don't know…"

"I'll be sure to invite Puppeteer and Painter to hang out with us," Shad persuaded, "We'll have lots of fun, I promise."

Lilith wasn't sure exactly which part sparked it, but somewhere along the line Sally's grin came back to full force, "Okay!"

"Alright!" Shad grinned, nodding as he followed Sally, throwing a smug look over his shoulder.

Lilith responded with a smug bird of her own, making her way towards the door.

It was like she had stepped into a whole new world outside, her senses suddenly feeling extremely refreshed.

She made sure to close the door behind her, walking out into the trees before tilting her head back, eyes closed as she soaked it all in.

God, it sure did feel nice.

It took all of two steps before she fell into her shadow, the cold rush billowing past her a cold contrast to the warmth. Within seconds she was back at her little shack, the sound of wildlife being a welcomed one.

As nice as the forest area around the mansion was, the lack of animals made it all feel dead. Regardless of all the greenery, the lack of sound was almost unnatural.

Lilith was all set to just walk in, sit down on a crate, and watch the day go by. Maybe, if she really felt like it, she'd pop into a 7/11 in Evergreen and pick up a drink.

But NO, there had to be an ominous and irritating clicking outside.

At first, Lilith tried to ignore it. It was just the nerves she insisted to herself, it was proof that she needed some real time to herself and she needed it now.

Attempting to explain away the heavy and unsettled footsteps was harder, so Lilith instead chose to put up a wall of ignorance. Nope, there wasn't anything outside, most likely stalking about in search for a meal.

She sat down on her crate just as another round of clicks and snapping sounds from outside. Lilith groaned, closing her eyes and she leaned her head back, attempting to achieve some form of inner peace.

Lilith scowled when the sound of claws dragging against wood became too distracting.

"Just one hour," Lilith scoffed to herself, incoherent acrimony trickling out of her mouth as she shot up from her crate, "Hell, at this point, I'd settle with 10 minutes."

Finally stomping her way outside, a rather large abomination instantly catching her eye. It whipped around, snarling and clicking as it locked onto Lilith. It's imposing height did nothing to shake Lilith's resolve, her eyes almost glazed over as she threw her hand out, "Look, I just want to have a day off, and I doubt that you want to die today. Can we just agree to disagree and move on with our lives?"

Being how rushing at a person wasn't often a sign of peace, Lilith gripped the handle of her scythe, kicking the handle in order to bring the blade to the top.

She continued the motion as she stepped to the side, swinging the blade right back down in order to bury itself into the creature's jaw.

Before it could react, Lilith pulled the handle straight back, effectively managing to mangle its mouth all together. If she wasn't already sick of today's shit, she would have found the sight of blood and saliva dripping from it's maimed jaw, both pieces held onto the skull by the skin of its cheeks.

"Pity." Lilith spat, her tone suggesting anything but before throwing her scythe out. The behemoth let out a strangled cry as Lilith caught it's neck with the curve of her scythe.

She pulled straight down, mindful of the newly decapitated head as she stepped to the side, making a face at the sound of the gross flesh bouncing against the grass.

Her satisfaction was short lived, and even then it had been bittersweet at best. She glared at the body, as if staring holes into it would somehow rectify the whole situation.

Now she would have to take care of this whole mess, and while it would literally be as easy as snapping her fingers, it didn't make the situation any less bothersome.

Looking the body over, an idea came to mind. She looked to the sky, attempting to guess the time, before shaking her head. School wasn't that important, besides, he wasn't in a position to deny her.

Moving the body inside the shack (it took a lot to stop from gagging at the smell), Lilith flexed her fingers, dropping her scythe back into her shadow for safe keeping. If she was going to be putting in effort, she might as well get some actual "work" done.

Shaking her head, Lilith set her sights on Evergreen. If this trip ended up being just as tedious, Lilith was going to take sadistic pleasure in making the kid writhe.

"I think it's time to pay Mr. Hart a visit."

* * *

Dimitri couldn't help but feel like he was on some sort of lucky streak.

He had gotten out of bed and ready for school with a record time, and without any type of surprise harm. While finding the kitchen and living room abandoned at first had given him a bit of a scare, the letter from his Uncle Vic had been quick to put him to ease, stating that he had come around earlier in the morning to take his mother to the doctor's. After a surprising burn-free breakfast and ten minutes to spare, he couldn't help the skip in his step as he walked out to wait for the bus.

All in all, today was shaping up to be a great day.

He couldn't help but look out the bus window, the faintest of smiles on his face. It felt so odd to have a day where it didn't feel like the universe was trying to kill him. Er, no, that was a bit harsh. It was more like the universe was trying to tie his shoelaces and push him.

Regardless, he wasn't about to let a thought like that bring him down. He felt like he was at his highest point of happiness right now, and he really didn't want to-

Dimitri didn't have time to register the feeling of someone's hand grabbing his jacket, nor did he have the time to contemplate how it would be possible for a hand to go through the bus's chair. He did, however, have a millisecond or two to yelp as he was pulled back into the chair.

The hairs on his arms stood straight up, goosebumps threatening to take over his skin. The cold winds whispered dangerous thoughts into his ears, laughing and snickering at his fright.

It all happened in less than three seconds, but that did little to nothing to really change Dimitri's mix of confusion, fear and panic.

He didn't realize he was screaming until he felt a different hand move to cover his mouth, "God, keep it down, would you? I'd rather not attract anything else."

When words did little to nothing to pacify him, the hand on his face moved to slap his cheek, the hand holding onto the back of his hoodie gripping him tighter, "Don't test me, I've had a shit day as of late, and I don't think that you'd like to be on the receiving end of it all."

The physical pain was enough to snap him out of his shock, his breathing slowly falling back into his own control. He took the flimsy wooden walls around him, the crate he was currently sitting on. He was in the shack, but where was-?

"I think it's time that we acted on our little deal, don't you agree?"

Dimitri foguth down the yelp in his throat, Lilith's mask appearing much closer than her voice would have lead him to assume. It took all of his willpower not to fall off of the crate, fingernails digging into the wood in order to keep from flying up to "defend" himself.

"Don't worry about responding," Lilith went on, her posture a lot more rigid than usual as she rolled her neck, shoulders pushed back as her hands found their way into her hoodie, "It's not like you can deny me, or anything."

Dimitri couldn't help but think her movements were a little more forced than normal, the way she walked with her shoulders back and head inclined forward feeling a bit...Off. Granted, she was always plenty intimidating, but the way that he could practically SEE the irritation dripping off of her shoulders, he couldn't help but feel shivers.

He watched her walk outside, gesturing for him to follow, which he did as quickly as possible. He followed her out, turning the corner, only to fight down another shriek.

He couldn't look away from the heap of flesh, nor could he fight the need to yelp at the sight of its face. He nearly gagged, doing his best to ignore the visuals, as well as disconnecting the smell from the sight.

He could feel his breakfast fighting its way out of his stomach, as if they wanted to get as far away from the body as possible.

Honestly, his breakfast had the right idea.

He nearly missed the way that Lilith took in his discomfort, the blank face of the mask offering little to nothing in terms of emotion, "I take it that this thing isn't giving you the best feeling right now?"

"You could say that," Dimitri admitted, fighting down an awkward laugh that had begun to bubble up in his throat, "I just, umm, well, bodies make me...Uncomfortable."

"Is that so?" Lilith mused, her fingers drumming out patterns on her leg absentmindedly as she thought. She looked to Dimitri, as if trying to see through him, only to sigh, shaking her head, "Well, you're here, so I might as well get some answers."

"I'm s-sorry?"

"Touch it."

Dimitri spun around, eyes wide as dinner plates as his jaw threatened to drop to the ground, "W-what?"

"You heard me," Lilith muttered, scowl evident by her tone, "Touch it."

"But, umm, I, ah," Dimitri muttered, not really sure how to word his refusal without outright asking her to kill him, "That, umm, isn't sanitary?"  
The two stood there in silence for a moment longer, Lilith looking unable to speak as Dimitri refused to look at her face.

"Okay," Lilith muttered, almost too softly for Dimitri to hear her, at first, "Maybe I haven't made myself clear. Maybe by directions were too vague and unclear with my command. And, if they were as such, I apologize. Allow me to try again."

Dimitri did his best to ignore the crackle in the air, just as he suppressed his need to jump at the cold shivers running around his skin.

He wasn't sure if this was anger or simply irritation, but regardless, he didn't like it all too much.

"I want you, Dimitri Hart, to reach your hand out, and press your palm against the body." Lilith said slowly, her tone as clear as possible.

"You're going to do as I tell you," Lilith went on, reaching up to tug at her hood, as if her hands needed to do something in order to keep from strangling him, "And you're going to do it right now."

Dimitri, for the life of him, could not move. No matter how hard he pleaded with his body, his legs refused to budge. He couldn't help the awkward laugh that left his mouth, nor could he fight against the shrug of his shoulders.

Lilith sighed, a hand placed on her mask's forehead, as if that would help to sedate her headache, "Okay, maybe you need a bit more help."

Dimitri could barely react to how she snapped her fingers, nor could he do so much as yelp when his shadow snaked up his body, bounding his arms tightly to his torso.

"You seem unable to move on your own, Mr. Hart," Lilith went on, her thumb moving to crack her other fingers, "Don't worry, I can help you with part of that."

With a toss of her hand, Dimitri's body lurched towards the body, stopping inches away from the flesh. Dimitri nearly gagged at the smell, the scent even more pungent at such a short distance.

"There, that's better, isn't it?" Lilith said snidely, her tone somehow walking the line of irritated and sadistic, "Now, hurry it up."

Dimitri gulped, eyes watering as he forced the bile in his throat back down. God only knew what Lilith would do to him if he tried to stall by doing something as feeble minded as throwing up.

"Touch. It."

He gagged, pressing his hand against the blackened flesh as he waited for the inevitable…

...Only to get nothing.

"...I don't suppose that you feel the claws of death around your neck?" Lilith's voice nearly got him to jump, Dimitri spinning around to face her mask. Lilith shrugged, her posture looking like it was trying to be uncaring, only to have her tight grip on her sleeves give her away, "Pity, and here I thought something would happen."

"I don't suppose I could ask what you were waiting for?" Dimitri asked, an awkward grin on his face. He wasn't sure why, but he REALLY didn't like the air around her. Maybe, if he tried to coax something out of her-?

"Than don't." Was Lilith's answer, the two words as dismissal as possible. She looked at the body, then Dimitri, only to look back at the corpse, "...You're done here."

"W-what?"

"You did what I told you too, and as of right now, I don't have anything else to ask of you." Lilith said with a shrug, turning on her heel as she flexed her fingers, "You can leave now."

"Umm," Dimitri muttered, looking around at the trees surrounding them, "About that-."

"Right," Lilith sighed, tugging her hoodie sleeves up as she approached, "Do yourself a favor and hold your breath, it would be quite a shame if your head imploded on your way back."

He didn't have time to ask before Lilith grabbed the front of his hoodie, pushing him backwards. His vision was enveloped in black, the whispers and laughter returning with a frenzy. The grip on his jacket seemed to tighten, as if trying to choke him from its position.

He swore that he felt cold fingers clawing at him, trying to hold on to him. They crept their way up his body, his mouth stuck open in a silent scream.

He blinked and, just like that, he was back on the bus. It took his mind a few more seconds to recognize that, and even more for him to feel like he was back in his own body.

He didn't realize that he had been screaming until the girl on the seat in front of him got up to turn around, giving him an odd look, "Umm, like, could you not?"

"O-oh yeah, sorry." Was all Dimitri could really offer, his eyes still wide. He looked around the bus, both startled and a bit amazed. It was like he had never left, hell, he had appeared on the same seat he'd been taken from (if his backpack leaning against the seat next to him was anything to go off of).

He did his best to take into account the people sitting around him, the noise of the bus, the people that didn't seem to notice that he had been missing for at least five minutes.

"...Holy fuck." Was all Dimitri could manage, the sound of his own shaky voice almost foreign to him at that moment as he moved to grab his backpack, holding it close to his body before resting his head on it.

So much for a good day.

* * *

When Lilith popped up in the corner of Dr. Smiley's "office", it didn't do much to scare him. He'd seen a lot during his time here, and the last thing that would scare him would be a Shade popping up out of nowhere.

No, he nearly jumped and dropped his coffee because of what Lilith had with her.

The two stood in silence, Lilith attempting to control her irritation as the Doctor moved to gather himself.

Finally, Dr. Smiley gave her a confused look, "I thought Shad said you were taking a day off?"

"Some people didn't want me to," Lilith muttered, dropping what looked to be a messy lump of blackened flesh on the ground, before dusting off her hands, "I should really invest in gloves."

"They're more use than a lot of people like to admit."

"Anyway," Lilith muttered, waving her hand as if to store the thought for later, "I brought you something."

"I can see that."

"It attacked me while I was out," Lilith said, her tone clipped and even, "I don't suppose it could be of some use to you?"

"I'm going to hope that it is recently deceased?" Dr. Smiley murmured, placing his cup down in favor of picking up a clipboard, scribbling out from prior notes as he began to write, slowly walking over to the Mindless' corpse, "It could serve well to help Jane's condition, as well as possibly support my current theory."

"Honestly, I don't care if you decide to blend it into a smoothie or something," Lilith grumbled, voice filled with irritated disgust, "Just, as long as you want it, I don't care."

"Hmm… I don't suppose that your current malicious nature is the result of something?" Dr. Smiley asked, his tone taking to one of a psychologist of sorts, "If you'd like, I can clear a surgery table for you to lie down on and talk your feelings out."

"Honestly, I think it's just the fact that Shad chased me out to relax, and, well…" Lilith muttered, gesturing to the corpse, "As you can see, that 'much needed alleviation time' didn't really go as planned."

"Are you suggesting that you'd be better off without a vacation day?" Dr. Smiley asked, still looking nonchalant as he continued to jot notes on his clipboard, "Because, if that's so, you'll only end up more deranged in the long run."

"I'm not saying that I don't need one, I'm saying that it sucks to have one forced on you only to have someone or something else ruin it." Lilith retorted, "I was promised a day off when I ended up with fatass over here."

"Someone sounds a bit like a complaining child," Dr. Smiley murmured, eyeing Lilith's reactions carefully, as if evaluating her like an experiment, "Would you like me to get you your teddy bear, perhaps?"

"Shut up, Doc." Lilith hissed, her hands clenched into fists. She barely noticed the way that her shadow spiked about, some of it growing to wrap itself around the metal shelves, the structures groaning under the added pressure.

"Careful with that," Dr. Smiley chided, shaking his head as if he were scolding a child, "Being out of control like that could lead to some disastrous consequences."

"If I weren't in control right now, this whole mansion would be up in flames and Evergreen wouldn't look much better."

"Someone's sounding rather spiteful." Lilith shot the Doctor a look, to which he shrugged and went back to his clipboard, "Apologies: someone's sounding MORE spiteful than usual."

"Please do excuse my irritation with the situational whiplash." Lilith muttered, rolling her shoulder as she forced herself to relax, "It's been quite the rollercoaster of bullshit today."

"...Not that this any real prevalence at this moment," Dr. Smiley murmured, his voice sounding a little more muffled than usual due to his mask and low tone, "But you and Slender tend to use rather… interesting vocabulary and syntax when aggravated."

"Thank you for that much needed information, Doc." Lilith muttered, trying to control the venom in her mouth, only to give up when it became evident she was fighting an uphill battle here, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take that vacation Shad promised me before I go insane."

"Ah, yes, do have fun." Dr. Smiley nodded, his tone dismissal yet also oddly pleasant, "Feel free to drop by with any other possible experimental subject, yes?"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you." Lilith muttered, waving her hand to the side as she looked around the room, finally finding a relatively darkened corner, "If I find anymore bodies, you'll be the first one to get them and all that garbage."

"Now now, let's not go back to being too venomous, yes?" Dr. Smiley said, a small smile in his voice before finally placing his clipboard down,pulling down on the wrists of his gloves as he approached the body, "Keep that up and you'll surely end up alone."

Lilith didn't bother to reply, instead placing a hand on the wall, "Goodbye, Doctor."

"There's no need to sound all brooding and serious all the time, you know. You'll end up pushing more people away than you know. And that would suck, don't you think?" Dr. Smiley murmured, almost sounding like he was talking to himself for a bit, "Besides, friends tend to make things easier, don't you agree?"

Lilith couldn't help but cast the Doctor a look, eyes narrowed with just the slightest bit of distrust. Was he trying to say something? Did he know...No, that wasn't it, it couldn't be.

Shaking her head, Lilith moved to walk through the shadow, unwilling to give that idea a second thought. She was going to use her day off properly, there was no need to get a headache over a stupid question like that.

* * *

 **(Insert crap about how I watch RWBY)**

 **(Insert how I don't like the new voice actor for Qrow here)**

 **(Insert a comment about how I expect people to take that prior comment out of context and get angered)**

 **(Insert comment about how I could not care less, I miss old Qrow, blah blah blah, he's my fav lemme mourn my boi)**

 **...Anyway, till next chappie, bai bai!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hi, Crimson here!**

 **Who's ready for...Wait for it...**

 **...Drama?**

 **Er, I mean, my attempt at drama?**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Lilith woke up with cold shivers running down her spine. Even if she had just woken up, she felt as if she had snapped right into alertness, skipping the initial grogginess of waking up.

Someone was in her room.

Having had fallen asleep on her front, one hand slowly snaked under her pillow, the other moving closer to her own chest. Ever so slowly, her hand felt for the knife hidden under her pillow, tightly moving to grip the handle.

She listened closely, eyes planted on the wall in front of her. She could hear the soft and slow sound of wood creaking under weight, watching as the shadow on the wall grew larger, taller.

The moment something cold touched her shoulder, Lilith whipped around, throwing the knife straight ahead. Instead of hitting the target, or the wall behind it, the tall figure caught the weapon. Lilith's eyes narrowed, ready to leap out of bed and force the intruder into submission, only to have the lights flick on.

Her aggression had never melted away quicker, her head bowing low in order to hide her shame, "Forgive me, sir, I didn't realize it was you."

 _"No, the fault is mine,"_ Slender murmured, studying the blade in his hand before placing it down on her desk, _"I did not mean to startle you."_

A part of Lilith wanted to snark about how there was no other reason to sneak up on a person like that, but she wasn't about to say something like that, especially to her boss. Instead she nodded, slowly moving to pull up her blankets. Maybe it was a bad idea to strip down into underwear before falling asleep, "It's no problem, sir. But, umm...Is there something you need?"

She did her best to sneak a small glance to the clock on her nightstand, hoping that it didn't come off as disrespectful. It took a lot of willpower to keep face after realizing it was only a little past 3 AM.

 _"I need to speak with you and Shad in my office,"_ Slender murmured. Lilith really wasn't sure if he was trying to be quiet due to the time, or just tired and borderline raspy, _"I'm afraid that this is a matter that cannot wait for the morning. We'll be waiting."_

With that, he disappeared from her room, as if he was never there to begin with. Her boss gone, Lilith finally let out a loud groan, flopping back down onto her bed before throwing an arm over her face. She wasn't going to go back to sleep, not when she was summoned, but God knew that she wasn't mentally prepared for this right now.

It was like that groggy state from just waking up had decided to hit her now, her movements slow as she pulled herself from her bed. She landed on the floor with a loud "Oomph".

Groaning, she dragged herself over to her closet, pulling the door open as she stared up at her hoodie half awake.

God, she really hoped that those two didn't mind her taking an extra minute or two.

* * *

It didn't take a lot of time for Lilith to get ready.

It took a lot of time for her to muster up the courage to knock on the door.

She didn't notice it until now, but with Slender gone, she had felt at some sort of...ease. It was like a hot spike had been removed, and she hadn't noticed it until someone decided to put it back.

The mask wasn't helping much when it came to controlling her breathing, instead making it feel as if she was trapping herself in her own self-induced haze. Like she was stuck in a choking fog of her own creation.

Finally, Lilith forced herself to knock, nearly jumping when the door opened instead of being given some sort of verbal que.

"Sorry about the late wake up, princess." Shad said sheepishly, apologizing for some reason before moving to let her in, "I wanted to wait until tomorrow, but Slender wanted to get through this as quickly as possible."

Before Lilith could form any coherent thought, she found herself seated on one of the many chairs that just seemed to pop up in the office when they were needed, thankful that her mask kept her confused expression to herself.

 _"If we may begin?"_

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your tentacles in a twist." Shad murmured, taking a seat next to Lilith before leaning forward, resting his chin on his intertwined fingers, "Do tell, what kind of world-ending catastrophe made you want us to converse at this ungodly hour? Or maybe you want to tell us why you decide to leave, without a date of return, and then decided to come back now, of all times?"

Lilith could imagine the expression that Slender would have on his face if he had to features to allow it, if the irritation rolling off of his shoulders was anything to go off of, _"I'd like to start off by apologizing. I did not mean to leave so suddenly, nor did I think that I'd be gone for so long."_

"Someone's dancing around the question." Shad muttered, just loud enough for Lilith to hear him.

 _"Regardless, I believe my findings to be significant enough to bring them to attention as soon as I returned."_

"Incase you're not fluent in Slender, princess, he's saying that he wants to get it off of his chest before he calls it a night and forgets."

 _"As I was saying,"_ Slender was quick to interrupt, and yet, Lilith noticed that he didn't move to rebuke Shad's statement, _"I believe I should begin with the reason I elected to leave."_

 _"I've been attempting to recreate the situation that the mansion is under, but on a smaller space with stronger effects. If done correctly, I will be able to seal off a part of space in its own dimension, for lack of a better term, separating it from our plane of existence. I've decided to call it a 'Breach'."_

"So wait, hold on, time out." Shad muttered, already looking lost with the information given, "What do you mean 'the situation that the mansion is under'?"

 _"A long time ago, when He still walked the earth, I put the mansion into a Breach-like state. While we're not completely separated from the world, I've made it… Difficult for people to find us."_

"Huh, okay…" Shad murmured, his posture suggesting he was anything but, only to have him shake his head, "Okay, so, what does this have to do with, well, anything really?"

 _"I believe that, if done correctly, I will be able to find a compromise for our Lizzie problem,"_ Slender explained, _"We do not have the resources to fight and kill her, but maybe we don't need to."_

"So, hold on," Shad muttered, looking like his mind was just now catching up to what was being said, "You're suggesting that, instead of facing this threat head on, we trap it away for a few hundred years?"

 _"That's not what I'm saying and you know it, Shadow Lurker."_

With all the back and forth between the two, Lilith couldn't figure out why she was there. They seemed to have forgotten that she was still sitting in the corner of the room, the mask over her face the only thing keeping them from noticing the one-sided battle against sleep she was fighting.

Regardless, she did her best to remain awake, the possibility for them to ask her for her opinion doing its best to keep her eyelids open.

"Okay, fine, I'll entertain your idea," Shad muttered, leaning forward in an almost contentious manner, looking like he was seconds away from either leaping over the table or using the chair as a club, "Say we go through with this plan of yours, how will we even know if it works or not?"  
 _"I've conducted an experiment already,"_ Slender said, his tone border lining irritation as Shad continued to oppose him, almost as if he was sick of answering the same questions over and over again, _"But, to be sure, I plan to repeat the process twice more, once with a room in the mansion and once more with the cabin we have in the mountains."_

"Okay, but you still don't know if it'll work or not, do you?" Shad asked, before standing up from his chair, "And, assuming that this whole 'Breach' thing works, what are the drawbacks? Do we know what we have to do in order to force such a thing to happen? Do we have to maintain it?"  
 _"All questions I plan to answer when I am able to redo the experiment."_ Slender muttered, before rising from his own chair, _"But that's not your real question now, is it?"_

"Always one to get right down to the point," Shad murmured, before walking up to the desk, pressing his hands against the wood before leaning forward, as if to interrogate Slender, "Say this all goes well. We trap this Shade in a different dimension, leaving her all alone. I'm going to ignore how she could possibly break out or do something worse, just for the sake of my question."

 _"Spit it out, boy."_

"What's the plan from there?" Shad asked, his voice quiet and smooth, as if preparing for a future shouting fest, "Or do you plan to just let her sit in there for the rest of eternity?"

 _"I see no problem with that."_

"You realize that you're just delaying the inevitable, right?" Shad spat, as if Slender's agreement had personally insulted him, "You're choosing to put it off instead of running away. That's a great step forward and all, but it isn't much."

 _"I see no problem with locking her away so that we may buy ourselves more time to formulate a real plan, if that's what you are insisting."_

"I have a real plan!" Shad shouted, his sudden change in volume throwing Lilith through the loop, "It's the most straightforward, easy, and overall best way to take care of this whole situation!"

 _"As I've said before, we do not have the resources to-."_

"Yes, yes we do." Shad grumbled, eyes scanning the bookshelves, before returning to the tall one's face, "I know it's on here somewhere, Slender. Just give us the diary, that's all I'm asking. Hell, you can turn a blind eye for all I care, but I don't want to bother with alternate routes when the most obvious path to take is the one right in front of me."

 _"Last I checked, you do not have an army to command and dispose of as you please,"_ Slender shot back, malice slowly taking over his words as he leered over Shad, his height looking all the most intimidating as it moved to cast a shadow over the two Shades, _"Besides, I believe we've been over this before."_

"We don't need a whole house to follow," Shad sighed, a hand holding his head, "Since you're so adamant to speak for the house, I won't bother with them. Hell, there's only one real person I'd want for back up, and she's sitting right there."

At her cue, Lilith nearly jumped, as if surprised they remembered she was sitting there.

 _"How many times must I make myself clear?"_ Slender groaned, his tone sounding gravelly, _"I will NOT risk her safety for a manhunt like that."_

"Well maybe she sees the importance behind my cause and wants to, I don't know, voice her own opinion on the matter?" Shad shot back, before turning to Lilith, "Well, princess? What do you think?"

Lilith opened her mouth, only to have no words come out.

Hell, she wasn't sure what to say. Sure, she agreed with Shad: this wasn't something that could be avoided, nor should it be put off for a later time. Lizzie was only going to make things worse, it was best to deal with it now before it got to the point of being irreversible.

But, on the other hand, she couldn't help but feel… hesitant. What if she wasn't able to do it? What if the time came, and for some reason, she wasn't strong enough? What if everything did go wrong, what then?

All of that wasn't even taking her master into consideration. How angry would he be with her for speaking against him?

Slender took Lilith's silence as all the answer he needed, sitting back down as if he had won the argument, _"It would seem as if she can see the reasoning behind my thought process."_

"You can't somehow arrive to that conclusion through someone's silence." Shad snapped, before turning his attention back to Lilith, "There's no need to be worried about your opinion right now, okay? Just, be honest, what do you think?"

"I… I don't know." Was all Lilith could manage out, her face feeling warm under all the attention. God, what she would give to just sink into her down shadow right now and never return, "I, umm, I see validation and reasoning behind both of your proposals, but personally, I do not feel like I'm in a position to have an opinion."

Shad gave her a look, before throwing Slender a dirty one, "Do you condition all of your proxies to say that, or is your grip on their fear just that naturally strong?"

 _"Watch your tongue, boy."_

"No, I want to know, I'm very curious," Shad went on, seeming almost oblivious to the anger rolling off of Slender's shoulders, "I mean, I already know that 'Masky' is too much of a kissass to ever say something against your will, and then there's oh so pleasantly silent 'Hoodie' who just takes it all in stride and without question. Honestly, the only one of those three who isn't a complete and total dog is Toby, and I don't even know if he counts at this point."

 _"That is ENOUGH, Shad."_

"But I'm nowhere near done with my 'experiment', Slendy." Shad said, spitting out the nickname like it was poison, "I don't even know where to begin with princess her. She's easily your strongest proxy, and yet what do you do with her? Saddle her up with babysitting duty as you decide to do some sightseeing?"  
 _"Boy, I warn you-."_

"Honestly, I can't help but wonder what you've done to them," Shad went on, a knowing glint behind his eyes, "Hell, I wouldn't put it past you to terrorize them with their fears at night, entering their heads in order to keep up to date with all their latest fears and secrets. I can see why Lilith would have reason to act paranoid, tell, I can see why ANYONE affiliated with you could think in such a way-."  
 _"ENOUGH."_ Lilith flinched at her master's tone, instinctively pushing herself as far back into her chair as physically possible. She could practically feel the ringing in her ears, as if her eardrums were doing their hardest to abandon ship. She took a moment to breathe in deeply, trying to calm her nerves.

He wasn't mad at her. He was angry, yes, and that in itself wasn't doing much good for her, but he wasn't directing any of that anger towards her.

She didn't do anything wrong.

She did her best to block out how quiet the room had become, as well as the feeling of being watched by two powerful beings, both of which seconds away from each other's necks.

They were still waiting for her answer, but what could she really say?

No, her opinion didn't matter right now. She couldn't say what she wanted to, not with how the situation looked right now. They didn't need her opinion, they needed someone to step in and make sure that they didn't end up tearing the mortal realm apart in a fight.

"...I say that we attempt the Breach."

"What?" Shad muttered, whipping around to look Lilith in the eye (or, try his hardest to do so).

"I don't see a problem with at least experimenting." Lilith offered, her tone slow and careful, as if worried that she'd set off a bomb with her tone alone, "You wanted to know what I thought, right? Well, I think that there's no real issue with at least seeing for ourselves if a Breach would work."

"...Princess… Damnit, Lilith, come on." Shad mumbled, more so to himself than any of the other two in the room, "Seriously?"

"At this moment, with the information we have in front of us? Yes."

Shad gave her a look of pure disbelief, as if Lilith had begun to speak in a different language, "That's not what you really think, is it?"  
 _"I do believe that she's said her part."_ Slender cut in, ensuring that Shad didn't have time to refute him, _"Now, while I hate to end on this sour note, I do believe that this shall conclude our current meeting."_

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Lilith tried to ignore how Shad refused to look at her, instead moving past her, shoulder checking her on his way out of the office, "Oh, and don't bother waiting on me for breakfast. I'm going to be taking a day or two to myself."

With that, Shad walked through the doorway, whipping his hand back to slam the door shut.

 _"...I apologize on his behalf,"_ Slender murmured, finally relaxing back into his chair. "While you did no such thing, Shad has never been one to take feelings of betrayal well."

"...I see."

Lilith did her best to ignore the unease that slowly crawled up her spine, the office suddenly feeling a lot smaller than it could physically be. Maybe it was due to the animosity that had been in the air only seconds before, or maybe it was because she was alone with her master in his office.

Regardless of reason, Lilith really couldn't stop her knee from bouncing at this point.

 _"I plan to conduct my first Breach experiment as soon as I am able to collect the necessary materials,"_ Slender went on, his tone commanding yet slow, almost calming to a point. It helped to ground Lilith a bit more, the malice that originally plagued the office slowly ebbing away, _"While I wanted Shadow Lurker to be present, I believe that may not be possible given the circumstances."_

"I believe that Dr. Smiley may be a good replacement," Lilith offered, trying to ignore the itch growing in the back of her neck, "

 _"While a good idea, I believe that you'd be a much better candidate."_

Lilith hid her growing panic with a small bow, the hair falling over her face acting as a curtain for her to hide behind, another shield to keep herself in check, "I'd be honored, sir."

 _"Good."_ Slender murmured, before rising back up from his chair, stretching his long lanky arms out, _"Till then, I believe I've stolen enough of your rest. I will tell you when we shall depart, expect us to leave for the cabin within the next week."_

"Of course." Lilith said, hoping that she didn't sound too robotic as she stood from her chair. She offered one last bow before dropping through the floor, a cold rush shooting through her body before she dropped from her room's ceiling.

Lilith couldn't have thrown her mask off quicker, eyepatch and hoodie following in pursuit.

Today, tonight, this morning? Fucking hell, Lilith wasn't in the right mental state to really think about that. That whole mess was too much, and while she could think about how Shad probably saw her as a traitor of sorts, how Slender made her head want to explode and her body run for the hills, how her stupid possible crush refused to die and stayed at the back of her mind…

Nope, she didn't want to think about it, she didn't want to think about any of it. All she wanted right now was to fall face first onto her bed and go to sleep for the next year or so.

Thus, with that plan in mind, she face planted her pillow, falling into a deep sleep as soon as her body had hit the bed.

* * *

 **When you're bad at writing anything romantic but you try anyway.**

 **God, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm pretty sure that that's obvious. But, this kinda important to what I have planned, and I intent to take this to where middle-school-me wanted this to go.**

 **I am a slave to my past self. I'm 14, and that's deep.**

 **...Anyway, till next chappie, bai bai!**


	17. Chapter 17

**こんにちは、私は-イエスは何が起こっているのか!?**

 **エイミー：誰かが翻訳者か何かと性交しましたか？**

 **エリン:ファック、それはそれのように見えます。 バカバカしい**

 **美雨：それは悪い日本人かもしれませんが、それは日本人です**

 **リリス：私は、私たち全員が日本語でもお互いを理解できるのは変だと思っている唯一の人ですか？**

 **エイミー：あなたはそれ上の任意のハードと思われる場合は、グーの黒い水たまりに溶けるかもしれない**

 **Azazel : 私達はちょうどそれが奇妙だと言っている**

 **エリン : Azazelについて誰も気にしない方法を無視して、なぜ彼女の名前は英語ですか？**

 **リリス：それは本当に私たちが今尋ねるべき質問ですか？**

 **私：さて、落ち着いてみましょう、私はそれを修正することができます。 ちょっと待って...**

* * *

"Tense" didn't even begin to explain the mood at the moment.

As soon as Lilith woke up, she couldn't help but feel as if the air was choking her slowly. Each step felt heavy, each breath almost sluggish. Yet, at the same time, there seemed to be a sort of strain in the air, as if just the slightest mistake would set it all off.

Lilith took a moment to assess herself, her findings only fueling her confusion. She only felt like this after over exerting herself, or when she finally crashed after a long day. So, being how she'd just woken up, she had no idea why she felt like a walk down the stairs was going to look more like she was melting down the steps.

Doing something as mundane as pulling the eyepatch over her head felt like such a bother, the mask following not too different. Why did she feel so lethargic?

She held her head, trying to ignore the dull yet consistent throb that decided to stick around in the back of her skull. Each step she took down the stairs felt like it took a lot more effort than usual, and honestly, Lilith was tempted to just skip breakfast all together and just go back to sleep.

Hell, she was tempted to just drop dead in the stairway at this point.

Rounding the corner, she walked into the living room, noting how oddly quiet it was. There was no shouting, no constant buzz of conversation, nothing. No one was in the living room, no one was using the TV, just… No one in general. It was almost as if the mansion had been abandoned.

She couldn't help the sudden spike of surprise upon realizing that there were, in fact, people in the dining room. She didn't like how dazed the other three proxies looked, nor was she too fond of the dreary look in Jeff's eye.

"The hell you looking at?"

"Honestly, I'm not too sure myself." Lilith muttered, pushing past him to get to the fridge. Looked like breakfast was going to be what Lilith hoped was a muffin.

Rather than throwing curse words or some sort of fit, he just scoffed and walked off, "Whatever, I don't want to deal with you today." He grumbled, shambling out of the dining room without a second thought.

Lilith couldn't help but stare at the spot he had stood for a few seconds longer, confused. She had been ready to catch his knife, so seeing him give up and turn around like that was just… Weird.

"Hey, you planning to just stand there for hours, or you gonna do something productive?"

Lilith's confused gaze shifted to Masky, her confusion only growing. Normally, Masky would put some amount of effort behind his insults and whatnot. So, to hear something as half assed as that to come out of his mouth was just… Weird.

"The fuck do you want, deadhead?"

"Deadhead." Lilith repeated, not completely sure if those words had really just made their way out of his mouth.

Lilith opted to leave just as Hoodie slammed his forehead into the table, deciding that she had seen enough. At least she knew that whatever she was feeling right now didn't only affect her, if the actions of the others were anything to go off of. In fact, it looked like they were more effect on them than her.

Taking a bite of her muffin, she nearly screamed when someone cleared their throat behind her. Whipping around, Lilith pushed down the urge to attack on instinct, "Can I help you with something, Doctor?"

"Thank you for getting right down to the point," Lilith couldn't help but feel jittery at the Doctor's tone. She didn't know why, but it was odd to hear his already dreary tone void of his usual dry humor and character, "I don't want to waste time, so I'll make it quick. I need you to take Sally out."

"Why?" Lilith couldn't help but ask, instinctively raising her hands when Dr. Smiley shot her a glare, "I'm not saying I won't, but I want to know why. What's happening?"

"Shad's happening," Dr. Smiley groaned, shooting a glare up the stairs, as if Shad could feel the anger shooting from his eyes from the bottom of the stairs, "Damned idiot's having an episode, of sorts. It's affecting the whole damn household."

"So you want me to take Sally away before shit gets worse here."

"What do you fucking think?" Dr. Smiley snapped, freezing the moment he realized what he did, "I apologize, this isn't going to be a fun day."  
"I don't doubt you for a second," Lilith muttered, mentally fighting off this feeling. She wasn't sure how to explain it besides "cold". It felt like a cold hand was trying to grip her mind and take control. Shaking her head, she bid the Doctor a quick farewell, walking right up the stairs with more necessary force than she wanted to use.

"Hey, Sally?" Lilith shouted from the hallway, knocking on the door ever so gently, "I was thinking about leaving for a bit, and I figured that you'd want to come along?"

When she got no answer, Lilith rapt her knuckles against the door once more, harder this time, "Sally? Are you in there?"

She knocked harder, nearly jumping back when the door slowly creaked open. Before she could wonder how hard she was knocking, Lilith took in the room. Namely, the open window, bare mattress, and the tied bed sheets and blankets that had been thrown out the open window.

Without much of a second thought, Lilith leapt out through the window, mind going into overdrive, "Sally, you out here!?" She shouted.

It was only then she noticed the thick fog that had decided to roll in, growing thicker the further she moved from the mansion, "Since when did it get foggy around here?" Lilith murmured to herself, taking a few cautious steps forward.

She stopped for a moment, forcing herself to calm down. Sally probably wanted to get out of the mansion the moment Shad's doom and gloom hit (Now that she thought about it, Lilith wouldn't have been surprised if all this fog was somehow caused by it as well). Knowing the little girl and the other residents, Sally probably didn't want to run into anyone else, so decided that the jailbreak method would be better than walking out the front door.

Not that Lilith could say anything, she'd lost count of how many times she had favored her window exit over the front door.

Regardless, the rational thinking, whether correct or not, helped to calm her down. She just had to find Sally, wait for Shad to finish his mansion-wide tantrum, and go back to proxy stuff.

Simple as that.

Taking a breath, she tried to find Sally. She kept an image of the little girl in her head, keeping her breaths low and even as she began to walk forward. It was similar to the last time, feeling like something was tugging her along.

Lilith followed, experimenting by staying in place. The tugging remained consistent, no real change in pressure of persistence. She still had no idea how it really worked, this whole tracking thing (was it a tracking thing? Hell is she really knew) just felt… Natural, almost.

She shook the thought from her mind, storing it away as a question to answer Shad later. Preferably when he wasn't causing a general sense of depression and an unhealthy amount of fog.

For some reason, the further she walked, the more apprehensive she grew. Why was she so tense? Why did it feel like her mind was screaming at her to be careful, be attentive?

Something moved behind her and, right before she could turn around, a sharp squeak made her jumping. Whipping around, she eyed the dead rat on the ground, and then the black tendril that extended from her shadow.

Damn, she knew that she was jumpy, but she didn't think it was that bad.

Another squeak later, she didn't realize what she had done until after she noticed the scythe in her hands, sheepishly glancing down at yet another dead rat at her feet.

...Okay, maybe it was that bad.

"This is ridiculous." Lilith muttered, opting to ignore how her hands shook ever so slightly, "I come out here all the time. I'm not that far from the mansion, and even if I were, a little fog isn't enough to scare me."

An all too familiar giggle forced Lilith to whip around, instinctively sweeping her scythe down on the fog. Her eyes went wide, chills down her spine growing colder as her pace went from a brisk walk to jogging, mentally holding on to whatever tugged her towards Sally as she dashed on.

"Sally!? Come on, Sally, where are you!?"

It took a lot of effort not to trip when ghostly whispers whistled through her head, accompanied by what sounded like someone chiding her.

Someone familiar chiding her.

"Fuck, get out of my head." Lilith grumbled, fighting her instinct to turn around and fight the fog. There was nothing there, she knew there was nothing there.

So why did she feel like she was being watched?

"Sally!" Lilith shouted, stuttering to a stop when the tug's direction turned. Instead of pulling her forward, the invisible thread circled to her right, tugging her just a bit harder.

Was it really harder, or was that just what Lilith thought it to be?

Regardless, Lilith changed direction, ducking under low hanging branches while also jumping over the thick roots in the ground. With each step, the voices grew louder in their hushed tones, the magnitude of their voices and inability to combine into one throwing Lilith into what she could only describe as a mental mess. All the while, she swore that she could hear Lizzie's laughter in the background, taunting her fear as Lilith pushed on.

When she felt something land on her shoulder, Lilith nearly shrieked, grabbing it with one hand before bending down and sweeping her scythe out in a low arch. A loud and thunderous thud and moments of peak dread later, she looked down sheepishly at the tree that she had not only cut down, but also (somehow) managed to suck parts of it into the ground, her frantic shadow giving her enough evidence as to how that happened.

Lilith shook herself, throwing the scythe down into her shadow out of frustration before running on, following the tug, only to have it change directions once more, this time circling to her left.

She didn't want to pour thoughts into asking questions. She didn't want to ask why the direction kept changing, nor did she want to ask if this whole tracker thing was reliable.

She didn't want to think that, maybe, it was just too reliable. Maybe it was moving in sync with Sally. Maybe Sally had a reason to keep running off in different directions.

Maybe there was something chasing her.

"Hey, Lilith! What are you doing out here?"

Lilith reacted before she could think, whipping around to face the voice, ready to strike down…

Sally.

There she stood, eyes wide with childish glee and general happiness, seemingly oblivious to the murderous intent rolling off of her shoulders in waves. She stood next to a tall willow tree, one that Lilith hadn't noticed until now.

Lilith did her best not to look too intimidating, doing her best not to follow up with the initial swing of her scythe, instead holding the bar behind her, willing herself not to swing forward and strike.

Lilith didn't even realize the sharpened points that had made their way behind Sally, pointed directly at her with their sharp inky points.

"You okay?"

"Huh?" Lilith mumbled at first, only now noticing the slight ringing in her ears, "Umm, yeah, sorry… It's been a bad day." Lilith finally exhaled slowly, forcing herself to calm down. Thankfully, her shadow did the same, slipping back into the ground and into its normal shape.

"Me too." Sally murmured, taking a seat under the tall willow tree, pulling her knees up in order to place her chin on them, tired gaze fixed on the fog around them, "I woke up and felt so… Down."

"That's one way to put it." Lilith murmured, doing her best to force her anxiety back down. She couldn't really help it, being in an area where her vision was impaired and all, "Is that why I found a makeshift rope that led out your window?"

Sally seemed to fold into herself almost, hiding her face behind her hands, "I could hear shouting when I woke up," Sally murmured, "I didn't want to walk into any of them, but I also didn't want to stay in my room."

"I don't blame you," Lilith admitted, finally dismissing her scythe in favor of sitting down next to Sally, "But, if this happens again and I'm home, you can just come by my room and we'll escape for a bit. Does that sound okay?"

"That sounds wonderful!" Sally laughed, shooting Lilith the biggest grin she thought she'd ever seen, only to have the expression drop a bit, "Why is everyone so… angry today?"

"From what the good Doctor told me, Shad's having a fit right now and dragging everyone else down with him."

"That isn't very nice." Sally pouted.

"No, no it's not."

"You know, Slender says that, if Shad wasn't so wound up all the time, he wouldn't be as easily set off." Sally said, her tone so informational that Lilith wasn't sure if Sally was attempting an impression or not.

Regardless, Lilith found it hard imagining Shad as some tightly wound spring waiting to jump. Sure, he had his moments, and he often butted heads with Slender, and sure he had snapped at her once during training…

...Okay, maybe it wasn't as hard as Lilith thought it would be.

"But I don't think that!" Sally concluded, shaking her head as if saying her opinion out loud for force it to become fact, "Nope, he's very laid back and helpful, even if he has his moments! Just because he has bad days doesn't mean that he's a bad person."

Lilith hummed in agreement, unable to think harder on it as a rustle in the leaves caught her attention. Her eyes immediately locked on the spot, gaze darting from side to side ever so slightly in order to check to see any follow up to that movement. Maybe it was just another rat, yeah, just another tiny vermin scurrying around…

...In the fog…

...Totally unseen.

"Lilith?"

"Hmm?" She murmured, not noticing how detached she sounded at the moment.

"Is that normal?"

"Is what normal, Sally?"

"Is it normal for your shadow to look like...That?"

Confused, Lilith turned to Sally, before following her gaze to- Jesus, what was that?

It stemmed from her shadow alright, with thin tendrils pulling themselves from the ground and up in the air, writhing and hissing around like a snake. It almost looked like her shadow was trying to escape itself, to break off and do as it pleased rather than remain a part of the black blob that was her shadow at the moment.

"Honestly, I don't really know anymore."

"It looks… angry. No, that's not it…" Sally murmured, thinking hard for a second before snapping her fingers, "Agitated! It looks agitated."

For any other person, Lilith would have jumped right to beratement. There was no reason for anyone to say a word like that and feel proud of themselves.

"It does look pretty agitated, doesn't it?"

Yeah, as if Lilith could physically bring herself to do such a thing.

All the while Sally beamed, seemingly happy with her choice of wording, "I'm smart!" She grinned, standing up to place her fists on her hips, her smile the very picture of pride and self-satisfaction.

"Yes you are, Sally. You're very smart." As sarcastic as the words may have sounded, Lilith meant it. Sally was far from stupid, even when paired up against the others. Lilith wasn't an idiot, Sally was cute and she knew it, used it even.

That normally took some level of teaching, or intelligence.

"Will you play with me, Lilith?"

Sally's words snapped Lilith from her head, looking down at the child for a second, before shaking her head, "Sorry, I'm not really in a run around mood right now." Not complete garbage, but the last thing she wanted to do was accidently hurt Sally, "Tell you what, you can go ahead and play within sight, and then I'll tell you when we can go back."

"Only if you agree to play with me later!" Sally insisted, stomping her foot down as if to prove a point.

"Alright." It wasn't like she could deny the kid, and honestly, it was probably better for Sally to run around and do her own thing rather than sit down to the easily alarmed Shade, "Remember, stay in sight! This fog doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon."

"Roger!" With a quick salute, Sally ran off, making a point of stopping a few feet away and waving, "Can you still see me!?"

"Yes."

"Good!" Sally grinned, throwing Lilith a thumbs up before moving on to playing, giggling to herself as she did so.

As curious as Lilith was, she let Sally be, content to lean against the tree and watch. Lilith couldn't help the smile that invaded her expression as Sally began to dance and jump around, seemingly in her own little world at this point.

It was intriguing to watch Sally play. She looked like she didn't have a single care in the world, such childlike innocence. It made Lilith feel both a bit happy and sick, to a point.

But, regardless, Sally seemed to be enjoying herself, and that's all that mattered right now. Lilith could allow herself to relax, just a bit. It felt odd, trying to calm down in what felt like such a hostile environment, but honestly it was better than constantly keeping alert.

God, now that she was a bit more relaxed, she couldn't help but notice how tired she felt. Did it really take that much effort to be alert? Or maybe this was Shad's fault? Fuck, who knew what was Shad's fault at this point, Shade powers were weird, and the less she thought about it, the more-

Something moved.

Suddenly alert, Lilith shot up, eyes darting about. There was something out there, and she was pretty sure that it had been too big to be a rat.

A twig snapped behind her, the sudden noise sending her shadow into a fury, lashing out into the empty fog before Lilith had even turned around. The rustle of leaves to her right sent her mind into a frenzy, a portion of her shadow rising from the ground in order to crush whatever had been there.

She barely noticed Sally's worried look, nor did she really care for the violent chills running down her spine. There was something out there, and honestly, the fog was NOT helping right now.

"Lilith? What's wrong?"

Lilith threw her hand out to the right, her shadow rising to follow the motion, lashing out and attacking a nearby tree. There was something out there watching them, she knew it.

Lizzie was somewhere out there.

Lilith's left arm shot out, a cold chill forcing itself down her fingers. She barely registered the sound of a tree being thrown over, instead focusing on the fog surrounding them.

She was here, Lilith knew she was here. Lizzie was hiding somewhere in the fog, watching them, mocking her.

She seemed to register the dark shadow looming behind Sally before she noticed it, throwing her right hand out to grab it. The shadow bent to her will, shooting straight out towards the figure. It leapt over Sally, posed to stab whoever was hiding right through the chest.

"Jesus FUCK!"

The sudden voice threw Lilith off, watching as the dark figure threw himself to the side, just barely missing the shadowy tendril. Her panic made way for confusion as she squinted, watching a tall figure crawl forward through the fog, "... LJ?"

"No, it's Santa. Of course it's me!"

Lilith couldn't help but feel a bit detached at the moment, watching as Sally ran over to the clown, tackling him with a hug, "Are you here to play, too!?" She grinned, seemingly oblivious to the dark look LJ shot Lilith.

"Nope. The Doc sent me out to look for you guys, said that Shad left and that you guys can come back now." LJ had yet to look away from Lilith, eyes darting down ever so slightly to take account of how her shadow whipped and writhed about, "At first I thought it would be hard to find you two, but… Let's just say that the fog doesn't do much to block out sound."

Lilith, unsure how to respond, instead focused on calming down. It was just LJ, there was nothing else out there, there was no reason for her to feel cornered in.

"Don't mind Lilith's shadow," She could hear Sally mumble, her voice suddenly taking on an astute tone, "It's just agitated."

"...Yeah, that's one way to put it." LJ muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

"Sorry, recent events have made me pretty anxious." Lilith muttered, struggling to control her shadow.

"...Are you gonna take care of that whole shadow situation going on, or-?"  
"What do you think I'm doing right now, LJ?"  
"Anything but controlling that writhing black blob on the ground, for starters-."

"Okay, one, shut up." Lilith grumbled, tuning him out before focusing back on her shadow. She took a deep breath, doing her best to calm down.

Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick, her shadow returning to its normal shape as she turned around, "Let's go."

"Sure thing, Commander." LJ grinned, making a whole show of saluting before turning around, "This way, Lieutenant Sally!"  
"Onwards!" Sally grinned, dashing off.

"...So, do you normally lash out at the fog, or is that a training thing?" LJ muttered when Lilith caught up, the two of them keeping an eye on Sally.

"No, I only do that when I feel like someone's watching me," Lilith said, tone almost accusing as she shot LJ a look, "Or, you know, when someone's trying to play a prank and I'm already on edge."

"Sure thing, lollipop. Because I'm insane enough to think that dancing around in the fog to get you antsy is a good idea."

"What are you trying to say, LJ?"

"I'm saying that, whatever you thought was watching you, sure as hell wasn't me." Before Lilith could protest, LJ placed a long finger over the mouth of her mask, "Think about it, do you really think that, if I were sent out to find you and Sally, I'd dick around like that? You, a powerful, borderline out-of-control Shade, most likely already on edge in the fog and defending Sally? I maybe a bit insane, but not even Jeff's that braindead."

Lilith didn't want to believe him, instead opting to keep silent. If it wasn't LJ, then maybe she was just going insane? Yeah, maybe all the pressure was just messing with her mentally, making her see and hear things.

Or maybe there was someone out there.

Lilith grabbed her head, taking a moment to breathe in deeply, exhaling the idea as if it were toxic. No, that couldn't be it.

It didn't matter anymore, Lilith rationalized, they were going back to the mansion soon. Then, she could relax in her room and stop thinking about it. Hell, she didn't need to think about it anymore.

She didn't want to think about it.

* * *

So, of course, the very thought kept her up late that night.

It took a lot of willpower not to just… explode? Was that right? God, who knew already. The one person who could answer her Shade questions was off someone else, most likely still spewing doom and gloom.

She threw herself onto her bed for what felt like the third time that night, staring up at the ceiling as if it would grant her all of the answers to her unvoiced questions.

No, she shook her head, standing up only to flick the light off before jumping back onto the bed, burying herself with an odd amount of determination. She was tired, and whether it be her own fault with her paranoia of Shad's fault for throwing the whole mansion into turmoil didn't matter, it didn't change how drained she felt.

So, with a defiant glare shot towards the sky, she rolled over, pulling her blankets higher over her shoulders. There was no reason to continue thinking on this, not now at least. She wasn't functioning well, and even if she was, it was close to midnight at this point.

There was no problem with letting this be a problem for tomorrow, nope, nothing. She was fine with it, it didn't bother her to think on it later in the slightest-

She was cut from her thoughts by a knock on her door.

The was really beginning to hate how her anxiety spiked before she even had a chance to acknowledge it, taking a moment to calm herself down before standing up. She took a deep breath in, ignoring how her fingernails attempted to leave indents in her nightstand, before making her way towards the door, "I'll be right there."

It took her a moment to steady herself, gripping the door with more force that she wanted to admit. Taking a deep breath, twisting the knob as a nonchalant expression fell over her face, "It better be damn important if you're gonna- Oh, forgive me, Sir."

"Think nothing of it," Maybe it was the way that the door framed him, but Lilith was very suddenly reminded how much taller Slender was, _"Were you waiting for someone else?"_

"No, but the others normally like to just pop in whether I'm okay with it or not." Lilith muttered, eyes widening the moment she recognized her mistake, "I apologize, sir, I didn't mean to-."

"Do not apologize for something you are correct about," Slender murmured, waving her words off as if she hadn't just thrown a smart remark at him, _"Besides, we have other things to discuss."_

"Of course. What can I do for you, sir?" Lilith couldn't agree with the subject change any faster, relieved that he wasn't about to bring up the last time he had popped into her room.

He looked like he was about to speak, only to tilt his head to the side ever so slightly. Right before the silence could become suffocating, he asked, _"Is something wrong?"_

"No, sir." Lilith insisted, ignoring the chills running down her back. Why would be ask that? Was she doing something wrong? Was he aware of something she wasn't? Was he trying to get information out of her through her own panic? What did he know? What did he know that she knew-?

She was snapped from her thoughts the moment a cold hand was placed over her own, only then noticing that she had yet to move her hand from the doorknob.

 _"You're shaking."_

Lilith, only then aware that she was basically shaking like a leaf, went into a small mental override. What the hell was she supposed to say!? This didn't seem like the type of phrase that would dictate an apology, so what would work here? Did he want her to agree? Maybe he wanted her to explain herself? But how the hell was she supposed to do that?

"Oh, don't mind me, sir! I'm just constantly haunted and mentally burdened by the fact that my sister/not-sister/half-sister/childhood friend is a deranged Shade that's loose in the forest. I'm also wrestling with controlling my own Shade power, Shad being Shad, and the rest of the bullshit that this house manages to throw at me! I also get to put up with all of those Madness-Ridden Mindless creatures that pop up and wreck shit as they please! And don't get me started on the human that I've let live and partially enslaved because I, for some reason, can't bring myself to kill this kid!"

...Yeah, Lilith figured that saying any part of that would help her here.

But, with each passing moment, she could feel the silence slowly growing deafening. She had to say something, and with each second spent in silence, she was sure that Slender wasn't exactly the most patient with this sort of thing.

Thus, Lilith took a mental step back, breathing in. She didn't have to panic. She just had to calm herself, relax the tension in her shoulders, open her mouth, and say:

"There's no need to worry, sir. It's just a bit cold in here."

...A complete lie.

Lilith couldn't help the sudden dread that filled her system. What the hell did she think she was doing, lying like that!? Now she just looked more suspicious! God, he was going to pick up on it and-

 _"It is quite chilly. If it becomes too cold, I'd recommend closing your window. I can't afford a sick proxy."_

Lilith wasn't sure how to react. Instead, her impulse once again took control, "Of course, sir. I'll be sure to do that before I go to sleep."

"Ah, yes, forgive me for becoming sidetracked." Lilith couldn't help but think about how odd it sounded to hear her master apologize, _"I came to inform you that we will be departing for the cabin the day after tomorrow. I'm not sure how long we'll be gone, but be prepared to spend a few nights up in the mountains."_

"I will prepare for our departure." Lilith said, noting how Slender had yet to retire to his own room, "Is there anything else I can do for you, sir?"

Before her anxiety could once again wrap its hands around her neck, Slender shook his head, _"No, that is all. Goodnight, Lilith."_

"Goodnight, sir." Lilith could only assume that she blinked, with no other real explanation as to how her master seemingly vanished.

She breathed in deeply, only then realizing how light headed she felt. She looked down at the hand still resting atop her doorknob, noting how it seemed to shake even moreso, "God, quit that." She couldn't help but mutter, making sure to close and lock the door before grabbing her shaking hand with the other, as if holding it still would help the jitters.

Surprise, surprise, it did nothing.

She sat back on her bed, only then realizing how hard her heart was beating. Were her palms sweating? Why did she feel so… warm? What the hell was going on here!?

It didn't matter, Lilith insisted to herself, none of it did. She forced the matra through her head, pulling the covers back up before forcing her mind to calm down. If Slender was saying they'd leave the day after tomorrow, than that meant that she was getting a free day tomorrow, and she didn't plan to spend it here.

No, she couldn't deal with these problems, not right now. She could, however, attempt to tackle something else before it became too big.

A plan slowly formulated in her head before she pulled an old ratty backpack from under her bed. She would go to Evergreen, or more specifically, she'd go to the high school. Walking over to her desk, she opened a drawer from under the table itself, pulling out some "special electronics".

"I hope Mr. Hart doesn't mind a little surprise visit."

* * *

 **나:좋아,어때?**

 **에이미: 이게 대체 뭐야!?**

 **에린: 서클과 선으로 말할 수 있는지 몰랐어요**

 **Lilith:어떻게 인종차별적인 소리를 할 수 무시,우리는이 문제를 어떻게 해결합니까?**

 **미우: 우리는 일본어에서 한국어로 갔다.**

 **에이미: 이제 Lilith 영어로. 중대한**

 **나:그것에 대해 걱정하지 마세요,내가 알아낼 수 있습니다. 바라기를,그것은 다음 장으로 넘어서 교차하지 않는다...**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi hi, Crimson here!**

 **Welcome to an author's note with no problems!**

 **Nope!**

 **None of those!**

 **We're a translation-free fic!**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Lilith was ready to go before the sun rose.

Tugging on her mask, she slung a small backpack over her back, making sure to have everything on her before dropping down into her shadow.

She popped her head up from what she assumed was an abandoned street, making sure no one was around before pulling herself up and out. Taking a moment to breathe in the crisp air, she took a moment to appreciate the silence. She didn't have a swell of anxiety in the back of her head for once, happy to see that the empty road gave her mind some space to think without screaming.

Pulling her backpack up just a bit, Lilith made her way around the town, enjoying the peace while it lasted. For a moment, she imagined herself a tourist, of sorts. Granted, she doubted that anyone in their right mind would vacation here, but the thought stood regardless.

She couldn't help but walk down the street, making note of the small yet obvious changes. It looked like Old Man Marleigh finally fixed that hole in his room. And, huh, is that the old Blockbuster's? They were supposed to take that thing down her junior year.

She ignored the part of her that insisted this was stupid. The part of her mind that snickered at the thought of walking down the street and looking at what had changed.

She allowed those thoughts to meander about for a few extra seconds before dismissing them completely. She didn't need to think too hard on that right now. She didn't need to feel ashamed for wanting to take it easy, take it slow. God knew she couldn't do this often, but what was a few seconds in an eternity?

She could take a moment to just sit back and enjoy the small things, right?

* * *

The bus ride was nothing short of a complete nightmare.

At first, Dimitri took his lonely backseat as a sign of good things to come. No one else was in the back, so that meant that he could possibly get some shut eye.

Honestly, he should have known it wouldn't be that easy the moment that someone decided to sit down right next to him.

He nearly jumped out of his seat the moment this girl sat down right next to him.

In the back of the bus.

Next to someone.

When there were a million other open seats available.

He couldn't help but peek over the chair in front of him, just to make sure that the dead silence meant that no one else was on the bus yet. There were maybe three other people in the bus, all of which at respectable distances.

So, with that thought, Dimitri couldn't help but wonder the obvious.

What the HELL was this random GIRL doing sitting right next to him!?  
Oh god, he could feel his palms getting sweaty. He looked over to the girl, noting how she kept her head down and earbuds in, most likely oblivious to the sheer panic rising up in his system.

God, does she really not realize what she had done? He did his best to keep his cool, hoping and praying to whoever would listen that this girl wouldn't notice how badly he was losing it.

He didn't even know this girl, so why did I matter to him whether she noticed him having a seizure or not? But, since he didn't know this person, didn't that just make the situation that much worse? Why did it feel weird to be panicking in front of a stranger? Why was he overthinking all of this!?

He didn't realize how he'd been furiously bouncing his leg until the girl next to him cleared her throat, glaring pointedly at his knee. Sheepishly, Dimitri offered a quiet apology before forcing his shoulder up against the bus, giving her as much space as possible.

God, this was going to be a hellish bus ride.

He did his best to ignore everything that was going on. He didn't notice the bus slowly filling up, nor did he notice how the bus had slowly but surely grown louder.

He did, however, notice the bus shaking aggressively.

"You've got to be kidding me," The girl next to him muttered, glaring out the window as the bus rolled to a halt, "This has got to be the worst day ever."

It took a lot of power for Dimitri to keep quiet.

He could barely hear the driver over the screaming and hollering of everyone on the bus, but from the way that students were beginning to get off, it looked like everyone would have to make the rest of the trip on foot.

"Oh my God, seriously?" The girl next to him scoffed, pulling her bag up as she got off of the seat, "This is fucking ridiculous."

Dimitri rolled his eyes, following everyone else off of the bus with a huff.

Surely that's where his bad luck would come to an end, right?

As if to mock him, the gods decided that he'd trip over his shoelaces at that very moment. If that wasn't bad enough, he had tripped on the very last step of the bus. Dimitri let out a manly yelp, his hands attempting to brace himself on the asphalt.

It did little to nothing, evident by how hard his face hit the ground.

He did his best to get up as quickly as he could, ignoring how his face was slowly heating up, as well as all the snickering and giggles. He did his best to dust himself off, a sheepish smile on his face as he walked off as quickly as socially acceptable.

He pulled his backpack up as he hurried off, pulling his hood over his head as he did so. God, this day could NOT get any worse. He walked on towards school, watching as most people took the main road, before turning right down a different street.

Who cared if it would take a little longer, the less human interaction he had right now, the better. Besides, with his luck, this was probably the best course of action.

His life was either Murphy's Law incarnate, or a running gag from a malevolent god. Regardless, Dimitri couldn't help but feel a bit empty inside when he felt someone shoulder check him.

"Hey, watch where you're going, retard!"

As if to make it worse, he has little to no control over what came out of his mouth:

"You shouldn't be saying words like that."

He had little to no time to realize that those words had, in fact, come out of his mouth. Next thing he knew, he was pushed up against the dirty alley wall, nose wrinkling at the scent of this kid's foul breath, "Excuse me?"

"I m-mean, w-w-well," Dimitri stuttered, as if explaining himself would help him in a situation like this, "I'm just s-saying, that in this day and age, it isn't r-really socially acceptable to say t-that kind of word. You k-know, like how it's k-kinda w-w-w-wrong to call someone a f-faggot and a-a-all that?"

In hindsight, there was probably no worse way that he could have phrased that.

Dimitri couldn't help but suddenly feel chilled to the bone, the air around them somehow growing darker. He fought the urge to shiver, his eyes watering ever so slightly as the grip on his hoodie tightened.

Before either of them could react, a bit of his shadow crept up his leg, keeping him stuck in place, "W-what!?"

He had a few more seconds to thrash before he was lifted up, the shadow tilting backwards before throwing him down the alleyway, right into a trash can.

Dimitri slid down the wall, eyes wide as he held a hand to his neck, struggling to breathe.

"Y-you could have said something."

"It's not like anything I would have said could change his mind," Lilith shrugged, kicking the guy's leg, before walking on, "Besides, even if I had something to say, you think that would have stopped him from choking you out? Cause, if so, you're more naive than I thought."

Dimitri opened his mouth to speak, only to close it. Words hadn't helped him earlier, and with how Lilith was, he doubted they would help him now.

"Wow, am I really getting the silent treatment from you? Jeez, someone's feeling a bit ballsy, huh?"

Dimitri couldn't help but grin, anything to hide the grimace on his face, "S-sorry, I, umm, haven't been having the best day so far." Lilith hummed, mask giving away little to nothing when it came to thoughts, "So, is there a reason that you're here, or…?"

It almost looked like a bit of the wall had leaned off of itself, encircling Dimitri in wisps of black and dark grey, "First off, I'm gonna ask that you keep it down, Dimi." Lilith growled lowly, mask almost touching his nose with how close she was, "Second off, you're gonna do what you normally do."

Dimitri waited, confused. Surely there was something else she was going to add, right? She wouldn't have come around without a good reason, right? Maybe she wanted him to do a blood sacrifice to prove his loyalty, or she wanted him to begin a ritual that would surely end the world-

"-Mitri? Did you hear a single word I just said?"

"H-huh?" Dimitri muttered, doing his best not to cower too much at Lilith's obvious irritance, "S-s-sorry, I was… I was just… Yeah."

"How eloquent." Dimitri really wasn't sure if Lilith could change the temperature or not, but after seeing all the other things she could do, he really wasn't going to think too hard on it, "Well, it's probably better if you didn't know what I was about to do…"

Before Dimitri could ask, a cold hand grasped his face, fingers digging into his cheeks. He felt as if the mask inhaled, a sort of dark aura surrounding him for just a second. He couldn't help but feel as if he were choking, but the moment he opened his eyes, he was alone.

Confused, he took a step forward, one hand against the wall while the other held his face. It still felt as if Lilith was holding him there, his body temperature feeling a few degrees lower than normal.

"Now then, your part of this is simple."

Dimitri jumped, a shrill scream shooting right out of his mouth as he did so. He whipped around, eyes narrowed as he searched. Where had that come from.

 _"You're going to go about your day. Just do as you normally do."_

Finally, he looked down, nearly jumping from the red buggy eyes that seemed attached to his shadow.

 _"Well, what are you waiting for? I've told you what to do, did I not?"_

"A-a-ah, yes, ma'am!" Dimitri squeaked, hefting up his backpack before making his way towards school. God knew that his steps felt heavier than usual, but he couldn't think on it too hard. He didn't want to think about how he felt cold shivers with every step, nor did he want to think about how he wasn't sure if his shadow was really staring at him or not.

Regardless, he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, and quite honestly, knowing who was watching him was doing very little to help him right now.

 _"Pick it up a bit, would you? I'd hate to see what happens if you're late."_

With that pleasant thought, Dimitri staggered off towards high school, lower lip trembling ever so slightly.

He wanted to say that this day couldn't get any worse, but he was too scared to at this point.

* * *

Out of all of his wrong predictions, it felt a little nice to be right for once.

Granted, being right about the rest of his day being complete and utter crap wasn't the best, but at this point, he was willing to take it.

He already had a hard time concentrating normally, so with this added heaviness to his shoulders, paying attention was near impossible. For what it was worth, it seemed as if he didn't exist to anyone today. No one came up to talk to him, no one shoulder checked him, hell, the teacher had straight up ignored him when taking roll.

He wasn't sure if he could attribute it to the black rolling off of his shoulders, but honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if he was just going crazy.

He all but dragged himself into the library, finding some place quiet and secluded before plopping his bag down.

He opened up the first dictionary he found, opening it to a random page, before shoving his face into it. He did his best not to screech into the pages, instead groaning in what he could only explain as "despair".

Honestly, he felt a little melodramatic, but he felt as if he had a decent reason.

He'd been holding his pee for the last three classes, and quite honestly, he was about to explode. But, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to even step close to the bathroom.

Why, you ask?

Well, it be a bit hard to pee when you knew someone you couldn't see was watching you.

That, and honestly, he really didn't want to think about what would happen. Would she get irritated with being brought to the bathroom? But, if she really wanted to, couldn't she just kinda "detach" until he was done, or something? Wouldn't it be kinda weird if she decides to stick around and watch, especially assuming that she could just leave?

God, this train of thought really wasn't doing much good to his mind, was it?

He felt as if he was nothing but a spectator, at this point. He didn't want to leave when the free period ended, but he did. He didn't want to sit down in his math class, but here he was. He didn't want to listen to the teacher ramble on about the y-axis or whatever, but his notes provided otherwise.

He wondered if, maybe, he wasn't in control. Maybe he was just like Lilith right now, a shadow watching the main show. Or maybe Lilith had slowly but surely taken control, taking hold of his body before she could take his mind-

 _"Do you normally stare off into space, or is today a special day?"_

He ignored the sudden need to yip like a scared puppy, instead stabbing his pencil into his paper. He ignored the soft snickers from behind him, instead opting to stare straight ahead. His eyes locked onto the whiteboard, as if it were all he had left in this futile existence.

He jotted down a few more notes, his hands stupidly sweaty to the point where his pencil nearly slipped from his grip.

Dear god, he didn't like this in the slightest.

He didn't feel like he was in danger, but the feeling of being watched was just that much worse. If he thought it over too hard, he'd go insane. But he couldn't just ignore it, especially with the cold shudders that ran down his spine, right into his shadow.

Or, was it her shadow? Was Lilith his shadow right now? Or, was he her body?

Before he could think longer on it, the bell rang.

Something about eating lunch helped to calm him a bit. Yep, he was just walking to the cafeteria, no more and no less. He was just going to walk in, buy something small, find somewhere quiet and lonely to eat, and enjoy his time to himself.

With that false thought, he pushed the swinging doors open, legs on autopilot as they took his to the lunch line. While the smell wasn't always the best, he felt that it hit him a lot harder than normal, as if he hadn't smell anything up until now. Why did certain senses feel heightened? Why did he feel like he could smell colors, and touch smells?

 _"Are you just going to stand there, or do you plan to order something?"_

In an effort to keep from jumping, Dimitri slammed his hands down on the counter, transferring his fear to the lunch lady, "Hello, I will have the chicken alfredo today!"

God, the smile on his face felt so stretched out, he was sure his cheeks were going to deflate on his or something.

He paid quickly, walking away just as fast while trying to hide his face. He nearly forgot to take his change back in the process.

Finally, he found a quiet seat to himself in a corner, taking it before anyone else could. He sat down, throwing his backpack down next to him, before staring at his plate. God, why did it feel like he had forgotten how to use his hands? He was trying to get them to move, but it felt as if they weren't responding.

Oh wait, no, they were just numb.

Wait, why were they numb?

Why the hell were his hands numb right now?

What was wrong with him right now!?  
 _"I don't blame you for not eating it, I'm pretty sure that it has more diseases than the head cheerleader."_

Wow, normally her voice threw him into a whole different reality, so it was kinda weird to have it ground him for once.

Huh, how weird.

 _"Hey, do something for me."_

Those words forced his body to shoot straight up, as if his body was already ready to serve.

God that felt so wrong to think.

 _"Go to room 214, in J building. I need to check something."_

Dimitri did his best not to look too suspicious as he stood up, taking his bag with him before leaving. He didn't think about the tray he had left behind him, too busy with his mission.

 _"Make it quick, would you? It would be a shame if someone noticed you missing from class."_

Was that a threat? He honestly couldn't tell, but regardless, Dimitri didn't like it. What happened if he didn't get there in time? Did he really have a time limit? What happened if he didn't get there in time?

What was he going to find in this room?

 _"Hey, I think you missed your turn back there."_

That got Dimitri to U-turn real quick, his panic taking over any real common sense in his head. Yep, that was it, fear was dictating his movements now. The walk seemed longer than normal, footsteps heavy before he finally arrived in front of the classroom.

J-214.

Dimitri placed a hand on the door, doing his best to ignore how badly his fingers were shaking. He nudged it ever so slightly, noting how, for some reason, the door was unlocked and just a little ajar. Why was the room open? Was someone in there? Was this a horrible idea? He was going to open the door, and a demon or something was going to come out, isn't it? Oh dear god, is it too late for him to-.

He pushed the door open, unwilling to waste anymore time.

Granted, the other panicky part of his was screaming, but at the moment, he could ignore it in favor of getting this over with.

With a deep inhale, Dimitri stepped into the room, eyes squeezed shut in imminent fear…

 _"Huh, not much has changed while I was gone."_

That got Dimitri to think twice. He looked around the classroom, feeling just a bit… Let down. Here he was, standing in this dark classroom, expecting something… More.

 _"Walk over to the window for me."_

Dimitri crossed the room, nearly slipping on a piece of paper before he got there, "So, umm, what are you looking for?"

 _"Nothing much, really. I'm just wanna… reminisce for a bit."_

"Reminisce?" Dimitri muttered, one hand landing on the desk behind him while the other held his forehead, "Wait, you use to come here?"  
 _"...You're going to be late. Get to class and finish your day up."_

Why did Dimitri feel uncomfortable with that answer? Was it because she was dancing around the question. But, assuming that she grew up in his area, there would be no other high school for her to go to. So, with that deductive reasoning, the only real answer would be that, for some reason, she didn't want to bring it up.

Was she hiding something?

"With all due respect, Mr. Hart, you're not supposed to be trying to dissect my life right now. Last I checked, you have two minutes to get to class on time."

"O-oh course!" Dimitri yelped, moving to compose himself.

That little bit of composure, however, went right out the open window the moment someone behind him cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry, but are you looking for someone?"

Dimitri felt as if the cold hand of death had clasped around his spine, holding him by the base of his neck before whipping him around, "A-ah, no, I'm really s-s-sorry, I was just a l-little turned a-around, is all!"

The teacher before him stared at him with mistrust, eyes shifting about as if to find evidence he didn't want to, "...If that's the case, I believe that class is going to begin soon. Do close the door on your way out."

"O-oh course, I apologize, sir!" Dimitri gave a small nod of thanks, did a few salutes just to be safe, before finally walking out of the room. He didn't breathe until he'd closed the door, taking a few steps away before throwing himself against the wall.

He felt like he was gonna throw up.

 _"Huh, he seems more or less the same."_

For some reason, Lilith's voice didn't do much to help his stomach.

 _"Not to be that person, but you have half a minute to get to the other side of the school."_

"R-right." Dimitri managed, holding a hand over his mouth before urging himself on, each step only adding to his quite literal inner turmoil. He felt sick, and he wasn't too sure why. Honestly, at this point, he felt like they only way he'd get to class without throwing up would be through some sort of Will of god.

And that was assuming that he made it to class.

* * *

He couldn't help but feel a brief sensation of tranquility when the final bell rang. He shot up and out of his seat, nearly pushing over the chair as he did so. Granted, he could not have cared any less, especially with how he apprehension was making him feel sicker by the second, but regardless.

He all but pushed the front doors open, making a mad dash past the bus stop and down the familiar street. Fuck waiting for the bus, that would be fifteen minutes of trying not to look suspicious.

Dimitri hiked up his bag and walked on, unwilling to stop for anything. He didn't have time to think about the people giving him weird looks, and honestly, he didn't really care.

He just needed to get home.

Of course, it didn't help when Lilith found it necessary to comment on every little random thing.

 _"That kid over there keeps looking over at you. I wonder, how suspicious is she? Hmm, I might have you kill her later on."_

He wasn't sure what made him more uncomfortable: the fact that she said it with relative ease, or the idea that she could totally force him to kill a child.

"Are you really going to fret over the murder of children? And here I thought you were willing to do anything to live."

"Please don't make me," Dimitri whispered to himself, eyes darting from left to right. His hands shook as he gripped his backpack, making sure to walk past anyone as quickly as possible.

He didn't like the silence that followed his plea, but honestly, this was probably the best answer he was going to get right now.

He all but ran the moment his house came into view, nearly tripping on his shoelaces as he did so. He reached into his hoodie pocket, fumbling for the keys as he made his way up the stairs. He missed the keyhole twice before finally getting it, jiggling the doorknob open before slipping in. The moment he closed the door behind him, he couldn't help the sudden spike of fear in his system.

He had brought an otherworldly demon into his house. Where his mom was.

...Where was his mom?

Before he could spiral down into a whole other storm of panic, he noticed the note on the sink. Picking it up, he felt a sudden wave of relief passed over him. That's right, Uncle Vic was taking her grocery shopping today. She'd be out of the house.

Sure, that meant that he'd be alone with Lilith, but it wasn't like his plan was to hide behind his mom or something.

 _"Go to your room. We need to talk."_

Why was Lilith inhumanly good at replacing his relief with fear?

He nearly tripped over the first step, all but pulling himself up the stairs by the handle. He couldn't help but groan, thinking that he'd used up his bad luck for the day already.

Finally, he got to the top of the stairs, walking into his bedroom before closing the door behind him. He tried to ignore the shivers running through his body, only to jump a bit when… Something filled the air.

He couldn't help but feel as if a ghost were whispering down his neck, a sort or haunting chant filling his ears. He watched as his shadow shuddered, almost violently shaking. He felt as if Lilith was frothing, furious. He felt like his shadow would open up like the maw of a beast, ready to devour him whole.

But… Wait, that didn't sound like growling, nor did it sound like an animalistic snarl. No, it sounded like… Laughing.

He stared at his shadow, watching as its shoulders shook, another short giggling fit coming from it, "...Wait, are you… Are you laughing?"

His response was his shadow exploding.

He screamed, scrambling backwards onto his bed, as if the pillows wound defend him. He watched as the black materialized into a hunched over form, shoulders shaking as the same ethereal sound came from her.

"Sorry," Lilith seemed to choke out, almost struggling to stand up as she turned to face him, "It's just that, well, I haven't had a reason to laugh that hard in a while."

"...Excuse me?" Dimitri wasn't sure which emotion hit first: fear, confusion, or slight anger.

"How do I say this without sounding too… derogatory?" Lilith mumbled, placing a finger to the chin of her mask, "Well, take this as you will… There is nothing funnier than saying something and watching you slowly fall into your own anxiety."

Dimitri didn't really know how to respond to that. So, of course, his mouth had to open up before he had time to really think about the words, "Is my mental suffering funny to you?"

"Hilarious, yes."

He really wished that he could stop right then and there. He wished that he could stomp his foot down, grab himself by the throat, and throw himself in the opposite direction.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Alas, of course he couldn't.

He watched as Lilith went dead silent, eyeing the lamp on his nightstand as if it would save him from her wrath. It wasn't like he'd have time to get to it, but still, it was a nice thought.

He expected to get destroyed. He didn't know exactly how, but with how Lilith was, he assumed it would be something between being thrown out the window to sinking into his own shadow.

So, when Lilith laughed harder, he didn't know what to do.  
"God, you're funnier that I thought!" Lilith snickered, walking over to pat him on the back. Dimitri couldn't help but jump slightly, "There's something funny about seeing the apprehensive guy finally fighting back. There's hope for you yet, Mr. Hart."

That got Dimitri. He honestly didn't know how to take any of this. Was he supposed to be complimented? Honored? Angered?

He really didn't know.

"Sure."

"As eloquent as usual." Lilith said, tugging at her hoodie sleeves before looking around, "As much fun as it would be to continue to observe you, I think I'll take my leave now. I have a lot to do tomorrow, and if I'm being completely honest, today has served its purpose as a stress reliever."

Dimitri had half a mind to smack her. He didn't like that that was one of the first thoughts to come to mind, but honestly, he didn't think it wasn't unwarranted, but he wasn't stupid enough to think he'd get away with something like that. But damn if he wasn't just a bit irritated.

"I'll be taking my leave now," Lilith sighed, stretching out her arm a bit before flexing her fingers, "It's nice to know that, even if you are my proxy, I can still play and joke with you as if we've been friends for years."

"Of course." God, that was just his default phrase, wasn't it?

"Ah, forgive me, I think I worded that wrong," Lilith muttered, wisps of smoke trailing off of her, "I didn't mean to insinuate that you'd do something to attempt to backstab me in anyway. You're too obedient to pull a stunt like that, isn't that right?"

"O-of c-c-course."

Dimitri really didn't like that giggle, nor did he like the way that Lilith tilted her head to the side almost coyly, "Well, you keep doing what you're doing, I'll be back with something for you to do eventually. Till then."

With that, Lilith melted into the ground, disappearing completely.

It was only then that Dimitri noticed the way that his eyes were watering up, nearly growing faint from how he hadn't taken a breath for the past minute or so. He threw his fist against his own chest, as if trying to force his lungs to take in air.

He always knew that Lilith was scary, but that… That was a whole other level.

Something in the back of his head told him he should have known that already. He should have known that a creature like her would feel no remorse, see him as nothing more than a toy. He was an idiot to even attempt to humanize her, and in doing so, fell deeper into a trap he was only now seeing.

He clawed at his throat, choking yet breathing. Drowning yet floating. Alive yet dead. He laughed lightly, the sound as hollow and toneless.

He couldn't help but wonder if begging for his life was really worth it.

* * *

 **I think I finally fix the problem.**

 **Er, I mean, THERE WAS NO PROBLEM TO FIX I'M JUST SPEWING NONSENSE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

 **Azazel: Yeah, good thing that whole problem was fixed!**

 **ME: WHAT. PROBLEM. AZAZEL?**

 **Azazel: Oh, you know, that whole translation エラーはすべて固定されています！**

 **私 :** **くそったれ、アザゼル！**

 **アザゼル : あなたはそれを見て、今私の名前は日本語です！**

 **私 : そして今、日本人は壊れています。 くそっ！私は今、章をカットする必要があります。 おかげでたくさん、アザゼル.**

 **アザゼル : 私は私がほしい何でも言うことができほとんどの人々はそれを知らない! 私はpokephileです！ ファック、なぜそれは英語です！? ああ、なぜ私は今エイミーのように聞こえるのですか？?**

 **私 : グレート、修正するための別の問題...**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi hi, Crimson here!**

 **Welcome to the story! Here, we've gone exactly "0" days without translation errors!**

 **くたばれ！**

 **...くそ！**

 **それに直面しよう、これは私の人生です、誰もこれをすべてギャグのために翻訳するつもりはないので、理論的には、この部分を翻訳することは愚か**

 **...それを超えて！**

* * *

Lilith thought that spending a day off would help her relax. While it wasn't the best for the other person, nothing helped her calm down much like watching someone else slowly but surely get pulled apart.

And yet, the moment Lilith warped back into her room, she couldn't help but feel a bit… empty. Was the whole day wasted? Or maybe this was remorse for the mental suffering she forced Dimitri to endure?

...Nah, probably not.

Lilith dismissed the thought as a whole, unwilling to worry about it at the moment. Instead, she mentally picked up the bigger and heavier mental folder: the Breach.

Tomorrow, she'd have to go with Slender up to the Cabin to… Now that she thought about it, she wasn't completely sure as to how that was going to work. Regardless, she had to be ready.

It really sucked how, with that single thought, apprehension began to crawl its way back inside of her. She spent the entire day trying to make sure that this wouldn't happen, and here she was, panicking. God it sucked to know that one bad thought could unravel a whole day of "placated progress".

Groaning, she took her mask off, tossing it from hand to hand before throwing it onto her nightstand, eyepatch quickly following in suit. In hindsight, she was glad that she had decided against only making Dimitri's life miserable for the day.

"Well, at least today wasn't a total waste of time." Lilith muttered, slipping her backpack off before sitting at her desk. Truth be told, the day wasn't completely spent on relaxation. While it was easier for Dimitri to believe that she was just hanging around in order to make his life harder, that wasn't the complete truth.

What he didn't know was that, from his shadow, Lilith had been planting cameras. Or, more accurately, a multitude of "high-definition, spiritually-modified photo and video capture apparatus"! Not that Lilith really knew what he was talking about, but if his boastfulness at the time was anything to go off of, it must have meant that his cameras were good.

She thanked the fact that Ben had so many of these, there was no way that he was going to notice four or five missing (Granted, she had taken some in spite of Ben a while ago, but regardless, her point still stood).

Clearing her desk, she set to work on her little project, pulling her relatively heavy bag to rest against her chair. She took a moment to recline a bit in her seat before setting to work.

Dimitri may not have noticed, but Lilith hadn't spent the entire day in his shadow. No, she took her time to inspect her old school, but not only to place cameras.

Let's just say, she couldn't be happier when she realized that they had refurbished and restocked the computer lab.

Sure, she wasn't the best when it came to the technicalities of building things, she had a decent amount of practice and experience when it comes to electronics and trying to fix them enough to work somewhat.

Taking a moment to stretch her fingers, she pulled a small screen from her bag, barely the size of an Ipad. Setting it on her desk, she opened a drawer of a random assortment of tools, hoping that she had what she needed to get this little side project done.

She took a moment to mentally run through her blueprint. No, calling it a blueprint was much too "brainy". It was more like a poor 2D model in her head. Even then, it was something to work off of.

She yawned, watching the oranges and red hues slowly travel down the length of her room before setting to work.

* * *

She woke suddenly in a pool of her own drool.

Taking a moment to wake up, she wiped the drool from her mouth, making a face at the puddle before throwing her sleeve over it.

That did nothing to help with the gross factor, but at least it was off of her desk. She yawned, a bit confused to find loose wires in her hair, only to have the pieces come back into place at the sight of the… thing on her desk.

Being how she just woke up, and that her memory wasn't the best in the morning, she had no idea if the thing on her desk was what she was going for last night. Granted, she also couldn't really recall her mental blueprint right now, so she didn't know if she could really judge herself right now.

The monitor from last night had its back panel opened, with a multitude of wires sticking out and/or ripped out. The wires curled out like dried-up weeds, and if the sight of other disassembled electronics on her desk were any indication, she hadn't finished it.

Before she could attempt to figure out where her head was last night, her eyes skimmed over her clock, a sense of horrid dread raising up in her system as she realized it was almost 10 in the morning.

"SHIT!"

She all but threw herself out of her chair and at her dresser, ripping drawers open in order to shove clothes into… Fuck, where was her backpack!?

Lurching over back to her desk, she emptied out whatever was left back onto her desk, nearly breaking the monitor in the process. She could worry about that later, she needed to get going!

She all but dumped out whatever was in her drawer (which honestly wasn't as much as she thought she had, but being how she wore the same thing every day it shouldn't have surprised her) into her backpack.

Throwing that over her shoulder, she nearly barreled her door down, startling Ben on her way out, "Where's the fire?" He yawned, stretching as he watched Lilith dash down the hall, "Alright then."

She ran straight down the hall, taking seconds to compose herself before knocking on the door. In her consternation, she didn't think to knock on the door, instead taking the slight opening as a welcome.

The blood in her ears had drowned out the hushed yet aggressive trade of words from beyond the door, panic dictating that she needed to get to her boss and get to him NOW, "I'm so sorry for being late, sir-."

If her greeting hadn't tipped them off, the loud thud of the door closing would have.

She hadn't realized that there was a heated argument going on in the office, and now that her panic was slowly filtering out, her logic couldn't help but slap her over the head, "I'm so sorry, I can wait-."

 _"On the contrary, you're right on time."_

Lilith couldn't stop the shiver that went straight down her spine, taking a tiny step back. Slender sounded downright murderous, with a hint of spite and a dash of barely contained rage.

"Are you seriously going to leave while we're in the middle of this?"

 _"Unlike you, I have better things to do."_ Slender muttered, walking right past the Shade without a second thought, _"Come now, Lilith."_

Lilith snapped out of her slight stupor, following Slender down the hall, "Yes, sir."

"Oh hell no," Shad scowled, pushing right past Lilith in order to follow Slender out, "You don't get to act all calm and collected just because you gotta look good in front of your proxy!"

 _"I'd rather you not continue with this charade, Shadow Lurker."_ Slender huffed, making his way down the stairs, Lilith following silently.

"Like. Hell." Lilith felt a violet rush of cold air run straight up her spine as Shad slipped into it, popping out right in front of them, "We're not done here."

Lilith peeked around her tall master, watching as Shad threw both arms out, blocking off the bottom of the staircase, _"...Are you serious?"_

"What's it look like?" Shad growled, his shadow whipping about venomously. Lilith thought she heard hissing, but she wasn't too sure.

Clearing her throat, Lilith spoke up, "Shad, surely we can just-."

"I DON'T wanna hear it from you right now, princess," Shad spat, a dark smog rising up from his shoulders, "This is between me and 'Slendy' here."

 _"Shadow Lurker, calm down."_

"You do NOT get to tell me to calm down!" Lilith couldn't help but feel heavier, as if the ground was trying to pull her in. A slight but constant ringing noise kept to the back of her head, slowly making her nauseous, "You're the last person that get to say that!"

Lilith watched as Slender looked Shad over, sizing him up almost. Lilith couldn't help but feel the need to back up the stairs, the tension in the air too tense. Right before she thought one of them would throw a punch, Slender tilted his head back ever so slightly, _"Lilith, are you ready to go?"_

"Yes, sir." She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or alarmed that that was basically an automated response at this point.

 _"Good."_ She barely registered the cold hand on her shoulder before the world shifted, Shad's angry image fading in favor of a snow-covered tree.

 _"I do apologize for the sudden jump, but I wasn't too fond of Shadow Lurker's insistence on arguing."_

"Of course, sir." Lilith muttered, pulling up the collar of her jacket as the cold began to bite at her. Looking around, she took note of the familiar landscape, "Sir, how far are we from the cabin?"

 _"Not too far,"_ Slender said, already moving to make the hike up, _"I hope you don't mind, I needed a short walk to clear my thoughts."_

"Of course not, sir." And so began their quiet trek up the snowy mountain. It wasn't as cold as Lilith had initially thought it to be, but the snow wasn't making it easy to traverse.

On top of that, a cold, heavy silence descended upon them, neither one of the two willing to break it. Lilith didn't want to bother Slender, who seemed lost in thought at the moment. So, instead, she looked out and around, mentally searching for something out of place on this mountain side.

If she remembered correctly, the cabin was somewhere surrounded by trees, near its own personal cliff.

So, with that in mind they should be…

...Who was she kidding, she had no idea where to go.

 _"Did you hear me, Lilith?"_

"Hmm?" Lilith snapped out of it, "Sorry, what was that, sir?"

 _"I asked you if you have been doing well."_

"I believe I have been," Lilith muttered, mentally running through a list of what she'd accomplished recently, "At the moment I'm helping the Doctor figure out this whole Mindless mess."

 _"... I see."_

The silence of the mountain once again took over.

Before the temptation to fill the silence took over, Slender came to a stop in front of her, _"We're here."_

Lilith looked up just in time for the wind to whip her hair into her face, pulling it from her face in order to follow Slender up the slight inclination.

The cabin looked no different from the last time she'd been here, still as silently serene as ever. In fact, with the absence of everyone else, the cabin looked like a lovely getaway location.

Just her, alone up here.

With her master.

… Yeah, she didn't quite know how she felt about that.

 _"Someone seems a bit aloof today."_

"My apologizes, sir." Lilith snapped from her thoughts, shaking her head a bit just to make sure she had returned to reality, "What would you like me to do?"

 _"Draw a perimeter around the house. Be sure to include a part of the forest and the cliff itself."_

She half expected him to hand her a branch and tell her to have fun, "Yes, sir."

She looked over the estate, pulling at her fingers before as she mentally worked it out. Before she had to think the command, her shadow zipped out like a bullet, sinking into the snow and leaving a trail as it dashed. In seconds a circle had been drawn, the two of them standing outside of it, "Like that, sir?"

 _"Precisely."_ Lilith watched as he pulled at his fingers, rolling his neck ever so slightly, _"Whatever you do, do not step over this line until I say so. Do you understand?"_

"Of course, sir."

 _"Very well, let's begin."_

With those words, Slender crouched down, placing a hand on the line. He seemed to mutter something, some sort of phrase that Lilith couldn't hear over the howls of the chilly wind.

Lilith watched as the line glowed a soft yellow, small embers floating up from it.

Lilith watched as the soft yellow became a harsh red, exploding upwards as if the very earth itself had cracked open, spewing out lava vapor.

Lilith didn't realize she was leaning in to look closely until a plume puffed over her face. Lilith coughed, face feeling as if it were on fire as she hacked and sputtered. She moved the bottom of her mask out of the way, coughing out the vapor while also trying to swallow down the cold, soothing air.

Some of it, whatever it was, she had inhaled. Her lungs burned, eyes watered, and being how she still felt cold on the outside, her body was going through a incalescence hell.

 _"Lilith, are you alright?"_

"Y-yes, sir." Lilith sputtered, beating on her chest with her fist twice before inhaling the icy air, "Wrong pipe."

Lilith took his silence as a suggestion, taking a tentative step back as she fixed her mask back over her face. Now that she thought about it, she was thankful for the mask, keeping her face protected from the wind.

Lilith couldn't help but squint, watching as the cabin in the distance seemed to shift like a mirage, only to jump a bit when the ground began to shake, "Sir, we may have to take cover, there may be an avalanche!"

 _"I assure you, an avalanche would be the least of our worries right now."_ Lilith couldn't help but note that his voice sounded strained, _"Now, if you'd please, I can feel your apprehension from here, and I need quiet to focus."_

"I… Sorry, sir."

With that, Lilith's ears popped, nearly stumbling over the line as if something had reached out and pulled her in. Looking back up at the cabin, she noticed that… Nothing had changed.

The line in the snow slowly melted back into itself, leaving behind some sort of black residue before fading completely. She watched as Slender slowly stood up, eyes trained on what she could only assume was his smoldering skin.

"Sir… What did you do?"

 _"Hopefully, I've set up the Breach correctly."_ Slender muttered, seemingly indifferent towards the steam coming off of his hand.

"Is there a way for us to find out, sir?" Lilith asked, eyeing the cabin wearily. The circle wasn't there, but it felt as if she could still feel its presence, "Visibly, it doesn't look like anything's changed."

 _"Visibly."_ Slender murmured, before extending his hand to her, _"Give me your hand, Lilith."_

Lilith slipped her hand into his quietly, a little too mindful of how cold his fingers felt against her own as he ushered her forward. Lilith tentatively took a step over where the line once was, slowly placing her foot down as if she'd explode… Only to cock her head to the side when she didn't, "...Sir?"

 _"Hold on."_ Slender muttered, stepping into the threshold. The moment his shoe touched down, a shockwave went right through her, staring from where Slender held her hand before bouncing right back, _"There we are."_

"...Interesting." She muttered, looking around. Granted, she didn't know exactly what was interesting about this, but she assumed it was something big.

 _"Lilith."_

"...Yes, sir?"

 _"You can let go of my hand now."_

"Ah, of course." Lilith muttered sheepishly, dropping his hand in favor of shoving them into her pockets, looking the cabin over with a bit of confusion, "So… What do we need to do now, sir?"

 _"I'm not completely sure if I conducted the Breach properly,"_ Slender murmured, looking around as if everything needed to be inspected, _"Even if I did, I'm not sure if it will be able to hold properly without testing it."_

"What can I do, sir?"

 _"Go and ensure no one is within the cabin, I will inspect the grounds."_

Lilith nodded, straightening out her jacket as she walked over to the cabin, thankful for the cold plastic cooling her heated face.

Not that her face was heating up for any reason.

"This whole thought is ridiculous." Lilith muttered to herself, all but stomping her way up the stairs, "I'm not seriously thinking about this, and I'm not going to touch any of it, the Doc be damned."

"...And now I'm talking to myself. It's official, I've gone crazy."

With that thought, Lilith unlocked and opened the door, the air within stale. Sure, everything looked relatively the same as the last time she'd been here, but something felt… Off.

A few steps in she heard something scurry about upstairs. Lilith groaned, dropping her bag on the couch before rolling her shoulders, "It looks like there's been an infestation." She muttered, rolling up her sleeves a bit before heading up the stairs.

The three bedroom doors on the right wall were shut, with only the door at the end of the hallway left ajar. Lilith's footsteps were slow and quiet, the only thing giving her away being the slight squeak of the wood under her weight.

She could see shadows moving from behind the door, a dark shadow pacing behind it. With a snap of her fingers, her scythe shot up from the ground, sliding perfectly into her outstretched hand as she advanced. She didn't want to dirty Slender's room, but she doubted that her master would prefer the alternative.

Before she could kick down the door, it flew forward, propelled by someone behind it. Before she could react, her shadow moved, stopping the door dead in its tracks. Unfortunately, it also allowed whoever was inside to dash past her.

"Fucking move, Mati!" Three teens raced past her, each of them making a break down the hallway.

"What a bother." Lilith grumbled lightly, throwing an arm out. Her shadow zipped forth, encircling around one of their ankles, grabbing her back up the stairs.

"Of my god, Cathy!"

"It's too late for her, Frank! Let's go!"

"You fucking traitors!" The girl on the floor sobbed, fruitlessly clawing at the carpet, desperately trying to escape Lilith's grasp. Lilith walked over her, slowly getting irritated with the girl's pleas, "Please, don't kill me! We had no idea that someone lived here, we were just exploring-"

Lilith didn't give her time to finish, bringing the scythe down on her quickly, "Don't bother." Lilith grumbled, marching down the stairs.

She couldn't help but laugh a bit at the two trying to get the door open, "Pesky thing, isn't it? I'm not too fond of doors that like to jam either, especially when I'm in a rush."

The boy yelped, jumping ever so slightly before grabbing the girl next to him, "Hey, Frank, what the fuck!"

"I'm sorry!" He shouted, throwing her right at Lilith. "You fucker!" Was all she shouted before Lilith stuck her foot out. The girl yelped, falling into her shadow, only to have it splash around her, "W-what the-?"

"I'm getting really tired of this, kid." Lilith spat, the girl's shadow chomping down on her with Lilith's last word.

To that, he yelped, throwing his shoulder into the door before it finally gave. He threw the door open, running right out into the snow outside.

"Pitiful." Lilith mumbled, stepping out and preparing to tackle him, only to watch as a tendril shot out from the left, grabbing him by the ankle. Lilith cursed, quickly making her way out of the cabin, "I apologize, sir. I was about to dispose of him."

 _"That's unnecessary,"_ Was his curt response, tone as casual as it could be with the screams of a hanging teenager in the background, _"In fact, he could serve a further purpose."_

Lilith watched as Slender strode off into the trees, the boy's limp body dangling in the tendrils that spiked from his back, _"Come now, Lilith."_

She followed, watching as the body swung ever so slightly with each step. She followed him to where she assumed the Breached area ended. She watched as Slender raised the body ever so slightly, before throwing it forward.

Lilith heard the sickening crack of something snapping as the boy's body collided with something, an invisible barrier of sorts.

 _"Interesting."_ Slender murmured, before pressing him to the barrier. Lilith watched as his cheek flattened out, as if he were being pressed up against glass, _"Very interesting."_

Once that was done, he dropped the boy on the ground, leaving him in a groaning heap, _"It would appear as if, when someone is within the Breached area as it's being separated, they end up trapped inside. On a separate note, one could still see the outside world from here to an extent, but cannot interact nor escape."_

Finally, he turned to Lilith, "Escape this area, Lilith."

Lilith nodded, holding her hand out carefully before pressing it forward, both surprised and intrigued by the invisible force pushing back against her. She tried to will her shadow upwards, like she would for a wall, only to have it stay put.

With a small sigh, she instead moved to stand within her shadow, planning to slip right through it and pop out on the other side. She jumped, stomping down a bit, only to have the snow repel her feet, "Umm… I don't think I can, sir."

 _"Are you positive?"_

Just to check the barrier's dexterity, Lilith swung her scythe up and behind her, giving it just a moment's hesitation before bringing it down on the barrier. She yelped as it bounced right back, swinging itself out of her hands, "There's one last thing I could try…"

Taking a deep breath, she forced her shadow up from the ground, trying to ignore the sweat beading on her face as she did so. She forced it to twist and turn, forming a makeshift drill with it. She threw her hands out, head beginning to pound lightly as it started spinning, the tip pressing against the barrier.

Lilith grint her teeth, eyes narrowing as she forced it farther, ignoring how her head was throbbing just a bit stronger. She was sure she could break it, she just had to-

She had a split second to react before her shadow burst into shards, throwing her arms out in front of her face as her shadow shot out, melting into the ground once they landed, "I don't think I can break that." Lilith muttered, ignoring the slight sting from where her shadow had ripped through her hoodie and some of her skin.

 _"...I see."_

Lilith flinched when cold fingers touched her arm, "Are there any other pressing matters to attend to, sir?"

 _"Nothing strenuous."_ Slender muttered, before turning on his heel, heading right back to the cabin, _"For now, we will be staying in the cabin, in order to further inspect the Breached area."_

Lilith waited for him to go on, only to follow him back to the cabin in relative silence.

All the while, she couldn't help but think about the Breach. So, from what she'd gathered, she was basically trapped in a snowglobe-like prison where, on her own, there was no real way out.

...Yeah, the more she thought on it, the worse her anxiety got.

With that thought, she nearly tripped over the first step of the short stairway up, watching Slender open the door before stepping to the side. Lilith stared at him for a bit, confused, before it finally clicked in her head, "Thank you, sir." She managed softly, making her way through the door.

 _"Make yourself comfortable, you'll need to do something for the bleeding."_ At first, Lilith wasn't sure what she was talking about, not until she felt something trickle down her fingers.

"Oh, shit." Lilith sighed, pulling her hoodie up and off of her, completely forgetting about her mask in the mad scramble to get the offending piece of clothing off. Her eyepatch stayed put somehow, despite how violently she had whipped her hoodie off.

She didn't have time to mentally complain about how cold it was, instead glaring at the red streaks that now ran down her arm, "I didn't think it was this bad."

The tank top she wore stuck to her body in a cold sweat, not much protection against the cold without her hoodie on. In a fruitless attempt, she tried to dab her hoodie against the multitude of cuts, trying not to pay too much attention to the parts of her arm that looked shish kebabed.

She barely noticed Slender moving about, first lighting a fire in the fireplace, before disappearing into the kitchen area. She didn't notice him approaching her until he took hold of her hoodie, tugging it out of her grip, _"That'll only make it worse. We'll need to clean it properly."_

"I… Of course, sir, I apologize." Lilith hated how she sounded like a total broken record. She jumped a bit when something cold and wet touched her arm, "I can do it-"

 _"Let me, it's my fault this happened in the first place."_ He insisted, cutting off her argument before it even had a chance to begin.

With that, silence took over as Slender cleaned off Lilith's arm, _"As of now, it would appear as if my theory on Breaching a large area is correct,"_ Slender murmured, not bothering to give her any warning before pouring what she assumed to be alcohol over her arm. Lilith hissed, jaw sealed shut as she forced herself to stay still, _"Of course, I've only ever seen it happen once on a much larger level, but I believe that the same rules, more or less, shall apply."_

"I wasn't able to leave," Lilith murmured, trying to add to the conversation. Honestly, she preferred this over the silence right now, especially when it came to the alcohol he was pressing into and over her arm, "What about you, sir? Are you able to leave?"

He seemed to freeze for a moment, thinking it over before vanishing completely. The rag fell to the ground, open bottle of cleaner doing the same. Lilith swore, turning it back upright before anymore could spill on the carpet. Hopefully it wouldn't stain or anything.

She nearly jumped again when her ears popped, Slender appearing next to her, _"It would appear so."_

"That's good." Lilith murmured, holding a hand over her chest, hoping her heart wouldn't jump out. She assumed that nothing could really surprise her anymore, but for some reason, she found that rule getting consistently broken.

Slender nodded, taking a few more seconds to look down at her (at least, Lilith assumed so with the way his head was tilted down), before moving to scoop her up. Lilith bit back the yelp, instead awkwardly laughing, "Umm, sir?"

 _"Staying on the dirty carpet won't do much for your current condition."_ Slender reasoned, placing her down on the couch, _"There is a bathroom and shower, but it's outside and separate from the cabin."_

"It's alright, I think I'm okay, sir." Lilith forced her face to cool down, no mask in place to hide her expression otherwise. Why did she feel so warm?

She blamed it on the fireplace, yep, all its fault.

"Is there anything else we need to do, sir?"

 _"Currently, no."_ Slender murmured, sitting down next to her on the couch, _"We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if my theories hold up."_

"I see." Lilith murmured, the cold slowly creeping into her, a yawn escaping her mouth, "We'll just have to wait then, sir?"

"Indeed."

And so, the two sat on the couch, staring at the flickering fire from her spot. She couldn't help but feel… Safe at the moment. She waited for the anxiety to hit, for the feeling of being too close to force her cheeks to go red and her body to stiffen up.

It was quite odd, the level of comfort that blanketed the two. She barely noticed the arm Slender had rested on the back of the couch, and even when she did, she didn't feel the usual need to make it weird.

All in all, it was very… nice.

She all but melted into the couch, sleep slowly but surely taking hold of her as her eyelids began to flutter, "Do you think Shad will still be fuming when we return, sir?"

 _"Without question."_

* * *

 **Welp，我想我只是要留在这里一点，希望我能在这里解决问题。 如果我可以在这里修复它，也许它会自己修复在另一个fic。 只是得弄明白这一点真正的快...**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi hi, Crimson here!**

 **Welcome to the story, where we've finally fixed translation problems!**

 **Yay!**

 **Now, if you don't mind me, I'm going to start this before the universe feels a need to contradict me!**

 **ONWARDS!**

* * *

Her life started the moment she arrived at the orphanage.

She had spent the car ride over in relative silence, unable to do much more than look out the window and watch the trees zip by. It wasn't as if the couple that had picked her up wasn't nice, if anything they were the exact opposite.

It was more so the fact that they seemed to frantically whisper to each other, every now and then casting her a look in the rear view mirror.

 _They're planning to kill you. You should beat them to it and get them first._

That was the last thought she really had before the door was opened for her, "Come on now, let's go inside."

The woman had a friendly smile on her face, but she couldn't help but notice that it didn't really reach her eyes. Regardless, she took the hand offered by the lady, attempting a thankful smile as she was lead into the old looking building.

The other one, the man, held the door open for herself and the lady, shutting it behind them before running off down the hall. "Now, we're just gonna sit here and wait for Robert, okay? He's going to get someone that can help you."

 _She's talking down to you. We can't let that stand._

She couldn't help but feel as if time had sped up around her. She blinked and found herself in an office, seated between the man and the lady that took her here, some older looking lady sitting across from them.

She blinked again, and she was standing back outside of the building, a wrinkled hand placed on her shoulder as she watched the car pull out of the driveway and leave. She didn't like how those worn fingers had curled around her shoulder, nails digging into her old, dirty shirt.

"Time to get you acclimated, brat."

Another blink, another setting. She barely noticed her finger playing with the sleeve of her shirt, tugging and pulling with slight astonishment to the lack of fraying.

"It's a bit big, but it'll have to do." The old lady muttered from her side of the room, going through her desk before pulling out a pin and a notebook, "Finally, I knew I had an unused one in the back somewhere."

She watched as the lady grabbed the collar of her shirt, pinning something metal to it, "From now on, you'll be 4242."

And now, here she was. She'd been escorted to a room full of bunk beds, with nothing but a pillow and a ripped blanket to her name. She couldn't help but tug at her pin, reading the numbers upside down. 4242, what was that? What did it mean? That lady made it sound like that was her name now. But that wasn't a name, it was just a bunch of numbers.

She was thrown from her thoughts when the door was kicked open, face blank as she watched a bunch of girls walk in, "Hey, check it out, the old hag found a new one!"  
She couldn't help but jump back a bit, suddenly rushed by these new girls.

 _HURT THEM._

"Wow, she's a bit scrawny looking, ain't she?" One of them murmured, face scrunching up as a finger poked her ribs.

"She certainly don't look like a fighter, that's for sure."

"Aww, it's kinda cute how she stares off and doesn't react."

"Hell, are we sure this kid's still alive and breathing?"

"Maybe that old hag mistook this doll for an actual kid!"

"Alright, what's with all the commotion over here?"

Like that, the sea of girls parted, creating an open path for an older looking girl. The moment they locked eyes, she didn't like her. Something about how her eyes looked too snakelike, or maybe it was the sickening mix of bright yellow and green her eyes were. Maybe it was the way that her brown hair looked like it had been chopped up quickly and messily.

Regardless, she didn't like her.

"Well, aren't you a cute one?" The new girl murmured, grabbing hold of her chin before forcing her head to tilt to the side, "A little on the frail-lookin side, but we can fix that."

"Honestly, don't bother with this one, Froggie." One of the other girls muttered dismissively, "I mean, look at her, she don't look like she'll survive the winter."

"I don't remember asking for your opinion, shitstain." Froggie murmured, eyes having yet to leave her face.

 _She's challenging you. Kill her._

"Honestly, she looks like she could be of more use than that other girl, 2130." Froggie grinned, finally letting go of her chin in order to sit down beside her, "What do you say, new kid?"

"I don't understand."

Another girl hollered, "Damn, didn't think she could speak!"

"Shut your goddamn fucking piehole before I do it for you, Ducky!" Froggie shouted, before turning back to her with a grin, "Sorry, don't mind them, kid. In fact, they were all about to leave. Ain't that right, girls?"

She didn't think that a room of girls that eager to see the new meat could clear out so quickly, but somehow, they had managed.

"Now that we're alone, lemme properly introduce myself. I earned the nickname Froggie, number… God, I can't call it off of the top of my head at the moment." Froggie rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "But, that don't matter too much. What does matter, right now, is you. Or, more importantly, what you choose to be your first step."

She watched as Froggie got up, rolling her shoulder blades as she spoke, "Lots of other groups here, but I'd say that my crew is the strongest around. And, being how you're new, I doubt that you'd like to be on your own."

"So, here's what I'm offering. You're gonna be a part of my little family I've got going. Granted, you're not gonna be anywhere near the top, but that's the kind of thing that comes with time. While you're with me, I'm gonna teach you how this whole place works, and how to control it. Trust me, kid, at my side, there won't be anyone able to-"

"No."

That got Froggie to stop real quick. A huff of some kind left her mouth, and then a chortle of some sort, "Sorry, kid, I don't think I quite got that. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you just cut me off to decline my generous-"

"That's what I did, yes."

It took a lot of effort not to laugh at Froggie's expression, her eyebrows scrunching up before a forced laugh left her throat, "Damn, you're a bit of a straight shooter, aren't you?"

4242 didn't get to respond. At least, not before a sharp slap hit her cheek.

"Maybe you don't quite understand." Froggie grinned, reeling her hand back once more, "I'm offering you a lifeline here, kid. Shit here is dark, and it'll only get darker. So, unless you've got a good reason to decline me right here and now-"

"I don't like you."

4242 cringed ever so slightly, expecting to be hit once more, only to be met with a snort, "No fucking way, are you actually kidding me right now!?"

"I'm here trying to - you know what, explaining to a child will only waste my time." Froggie tugged at her sleeves, rolling her neck before getting up in her face, "I just want this to be made entirely clear, alright?"

"I don't like people disrespecting me, especially when I'm trying to offer them a lifeline. So, for the rest of your stay here, I won't forget this. You're gonna spend every last second here paying for what you did today. You hear my, brat?"

 _She's too close. Break her nose._

"You talk too much."

To that Froggie laughed, shaking her head as she walked out of the room, "Fuck you too, kid."

* * *

For what it was worth, Froggie kept to her promise.

The first three months had been anything but pleasant. From finding the occasional slug in her lunch to being tripped in the hall, her stay had been… less than optimal.

To their credit, finding her pillow filled with dirt and bugs had been a pretty surprising change of pace, but other than that, their tactics were beginning to grow predictable. In the morning, she'd have to wake up early to use the bathroom before anyone else was awake to dump water on her. At breakfast she had to be mindful of her food before eating, since the girls working the food line were about as trustworthy as Froggie herself. She normally spent her free time alone, preferably somewhere small and easily escape able. Lunch and dinner were treated the same as breakfast, taking a shower was done during dinner so no one would bother her, and then she'd inspect her bed before going to sleep.

Honestly, it wasn't too different to her life before all of this.

The streets were less forgiving than these girls, they were a cake walk compared to the relentless backstabbing she came from.

 _None of them would make it more than a day, tops._

She was shaken from her thoughts when the food bell rang, following the almost zombie-like shuffle of girls out of the rooms and into the cafe.

The benches were made out of poorly sandpapered wood, if the splinters in her thin pants were anything to go off of. Regardless, after grabbing her food, she took a seat as far away from all the other girls as possible.

She didn't even bother with what looked to be liquified potatoes, instantly suspicious the moment that girl gave her a look before plopping it onto her plate.

 _For all you know, she could have poisoned that._

She eyed the green mush, glaring at if as if it had personally offended her before poking at it with her plastic fork. She was sure that, at one point, the sludge on her plate had resembled broccoli. Granted, it looked like something more akin to poisoned slime. She doubted that the "old hag" did much when it came to checking on food prep, and with how often food poisoning seemed to hit, it really didn't look too far fetched to assume it wasn't as ambiguous as it seemed.

 _With that thought, it seems relatively easy to kill someone here. I doubt anyone would notice a girl or three missing._

She poked at her food, too numb at the moment to do much more than that.

 _What would happen if we took out Froggie? No, that would be too easy; besides, that would only create a power vacuum of sorts. Someone else would fill in and we'd be back to square one._

She barely noticed the way that she had been stabbing into her food, mindlessly poking at it as if it would help it look more edible.

She didn't notice, however, the small group next to her, trading thoughts and words in hushed whispers.

 _But it wouldn't be too nice if you were stuck like this for the duration of your time here, huh? Who knows when you'll be able to leave? Even if you did, who knows how long it'll be until you end up back here?_

She was a little rattled from her thoughts when she heard someone stand up suddenly, only to wave it off. Someone probably wanted more food, or something.

 _You should have killed that couple when you had the chance._

"Hey, fucker!"

She barely had enough time to move before her plate was thrown to the side, the offending hand moving to grab her by her shirt collar. She couldn't help but stare at this girl's mismatched eyes, one being a dark blue while the other was a bright green.

 _How odd._

"You gonna say something, or are you gonna just gonna stare!?" This girl seemed louder than Froggie, just a bit more abrasive. Regardless, she wasn't too scary, "Fucking say something, you tiny piece of-"

"Calm it down, kid." A familiar voice said. She didn't need to turn around to know that Froggie was standing there, most likely with a smug grin on her face, "Don't be too loud and shit up front. You gotta build up to that kind of thing, give her a reason to fear you."

"Like you're one to talk."

That got Froggie to stop, a look of stupor on her face before she threw her head back, "Hey, 2130, you're kinda frothing over there."

"You can't honestly be okay with how this bitch is talking to you!" 2130 shouted, all but grabbing her by her hair before pulling her head up, "You best say you're sorry, you're lucky as all fuck that Froggie hasn't knocked your head in-"

"God, settle it down, 2130. Just hold her up for me." With that, her head was whipping around, held up to face Froggie, "See, this is why I liked you at first, runt. You got that look in your eyes that I like."

Froggie leaned in a bit closer, breath as foul as her personality, "You look like you could kill someone in cold blood without batting an eye."  
"You wanna find out?"

That got a laugh out and Froggie and an irritated hiss from 2130, "Damn, you girls seeing this?"

"She ain't too polite, is she?"

"Bet we can break her in ten minutes!"

"My money's on five!"

"Alright, settle it down!" Froggie shouted, turning around to address the slowly growing crowd, "Come on now, girls. We can be a bit more civil than this. Now, you all know that I'm a fair person."

A fair amount of snickers came from that one.

"I'm not just gonna go ahead and snap necks because of a few mistaken first steps. Let's not forget all of you who put up a fight when you first arrived, god knows I could have bashed in at least half of your heads."

 _She does a lot of talking, and not a lot of acting._

She eyed the girl holding her, similar to a dog waiting for their master to pet them. She watched Froggie drone on and on about forgiveness and second chances and whatnot.

 _Let's change that._

That was the last thought to register in her head before her leg flew up and out. She nailed Froggie right in the back, apparently using more force than she needed, if the way Froggie went flying was anything to go by. She couldn't even try to hide the small yet smug smile on her face as Froggie's face smashed into the bench, her hands useless to stop her fall.

"Jesus fuck, you bitch!" Was all the warning she got before she was thrown down. She had barely processed the fact that she wasn't being held up before a kick collided with her side, "You don't get to act like tough shit just because you're new, you hear me!?"

She grabbed 2130's leg before she could kick her again, using her momentum to pull the taller girl to the ground before rolling over to straddle her, "Quit hitting me!" She couldn't help but be a bit surprised by how adamant and loud her own voice sounded, but by the time she did, 2130 had grabbed her by the hair.

With her hair in both of 2130's hands, the girl all but threw her head up right as she pulled her hands down, forehead smashed into her face, "Fucking take that!" 2130 shouted, pushing her off.

4242 wheezed as 2130 dug her heel into her stomach, "Not so tough now, huh!?" 2130 shouted, her voice just one of the many chanting. She reached out towards what looked like someone's foot, only to have them kick her back in.

The rather dim lights felt glaring as she was forcefully rolled over, 2130 grabbing her by the collar before lifting her off of the ground, "Don't you DARE try to crawl your way out of this!"

Unable to think of anything better, 4242 flailed about, breathes coming out more akin to wheezes with the tight grip 2130 had on her.

 _Pull your legs up to wrap around her arm._

Her vision was beginning to blur slightly, the loud chants and jeers of the girls around them slowly slipping in volume the longer she was held there.

 _Twist your body to the left while pulling away from her torso._

Her head was pounding, nails digging into 2130's arm as if it would do something to help her.

 _She'll either let go of you, or her arm._

Before she could comprehend her thoughts, she was dropped to the ground. She could feel the wood creak under the weight of heavy footfalls as all the girls seemed to run about.

"Shit, it's the hag!"

"Scatter!"

"2130, hurry it up!"

"No, I'm not done!" As if on cue, a rough hand grabbed her own, trying to pull her up by her fingers, "She was giving you shit, Froggie! I'm not gonna let that slide!"

Before Froggie could protest, 4242 did the first thing that came to mind. She pulled 2130 straight down, barely processing her open mouth before biting down on 2130's forearm.

She heard a screech and a curse before she was dropped back onto the floor. She registered one set of footsteps running out of the room, seconds before a much slower pair seemingly shambled into the room, "What in the world is going on in here!?"

"Ms. Chrow! It w-wasn't me, I swear, I was just defending myself-"

"A likely story. Here's a bit of advice, don't claim innocence when you're holding the murder weapon!"

With her vision still blurry, she could barely process the thud of someone landing on the floor next to her, much less the initial slap and shout, "Now, who's the victim of your bullshit this time, 2130?"

The moment something grabbed her, 4242's mind went into overdrive. She didn't think before she grabbed the wrist, biting down with as much force as possible into the wrinkly skin.

She heard the shriek seconds before the impact, and only then did it hit her that she had bit the wrong person.

"Ah, my arm! You fucking whiffet, what's wrong with you!?"

Yep, that's definitely the wrong person to bite.

 _That's a thought, but hear me out. Maybe, just maybe, you didn't bite hard enough._

That was the last coherent thought she was able to formulate before something stomped down on her back of her head, world going black.

* * *

She wasn't sure if she had only blinked or completely knocked out, all she was sure of was that this wasn't the same floor as it had been before.

She rubbed her eyes, slowly pushing herself up in order to inspect this new, cold room. The only light in the room came from the high window, the sheets billowing about as a rather harsh wind blew into the room. Other than that, there was no other movement in the room, nor was there anything else in here, now that she thought about it.

Before she could ask, the sound of light footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door, as well as a soft conversation being carried out.

"So, what happened to that new kid?"

"Oh, the one that Froggie's attack dog tackled? What do you think?"

She fought the urge to jump when the door was hit from the other side, a chorus of gleeful chuckles following the action, "How's it hanging in there, green girl?"

She decided against giving them a verbal answer, instead choosing to hit the door right back. She all but rammed her shoulder into the door, satisfied with the pained grunt that came from the other side, "Oww, shit, my ear!"

"Serves you right." There was no possible way for her to sound more pretentious, and honestly, she was a bit proud of herself on that front.

"Wow, no wonder the old hag put her in the timeout room," A voice muttered, "I mean, apparently, the crazy lunatic in their bit her, or some shit!"

"Let's hope the old lady's mouth doesn't go and get all frothy." She girl shouted, nearly screaming that last part into the door, much to 4242's absolute disgust.

Right before more words could be traded, someone coughed. Er, no, it sounded more like someone was trying to vomit up air, if the hacking and wheezing was anything to go off of.

"Oh shit, she lives!"

"Run for it!"

The two dashed off, leaving her alone with herself and whoever was now behind the door. If the light wheeze in her voice was anything to go off of, there was only really one guess as to who it was.

"Maybe you don't understand because you're new," 4242 nearly winced at how hoarse the old lady sounded, "But, normally, when you're put in a room like this, it's to make sure you don't go around and talk to anyone."

She couldn't help but back away from the door, fists raised as if the old lady was going to open the door and beat her half to death. She knew better than to underestimate old hags.

"Hope you get use to your new room, brat. You're going to be spending a lot of time in here, by yourself." The old lady crooned, slamming a bony hand against the door before walking away.

With nothing else to do, she curled up against the wall, holding her knees to her chest. The silence of the room was deafening, screaming in her ears.

 _You should kill the old lady._

God she hated this. She was tempted to take her chances out the window, only to decide against it. Even if the jump didn't kill her, and if she could make it out the window, then what?

 _No, actually, on second thought, that would be bad. That could end horribly._

Best case scenario, she ended up back here. She'd maybe have an hour or so before the fuzz was sent after her. Granted, the law enforcers weren't exactly first-rate in this town, but with the rampant murder and whatnot, she couldn't give them crap for giving up a bit.

 _Besides, there's no reason to go straight for the old lady. Makes more sense to start off small, like that Froggie chick._

She rubbed at her arms, trying to force the goosebumps back down into her skin. She stared at the window covers for a second longer than she had wanted to, contemplating if she could tear them down and use them as blankets of some sort.

 _Yeah, she needs to go._

The chill that ran down her spine wasn't unwanted, rather, it was sudden and almost unexpected. Granted, she didn't really know the origin on

 _But first…_

There was that girl, the one from earlier. The one that had stood up to fight for Froggie, er, insisted on beating the shit out of her. What was her number again…

 _2130._

There it was. 2130. That kid had been, just, wow. She really didn't know how else to describe that one. She could practically smell the dedication and blind loyalty on that girl from a mile away.

Honestly, girls like 2130 irked her the most.

 _That's the kind of person who can't become their own because they're too busy trying to kiss up to whoever they think owns them at the moment. She's Froggie without the sliver of charisma, and for some reason, a lesser Froggie is more infuriating._

So, with that thought, her mind was able to come together to formulate a somewhat concrete agreement.

 _Killing Froggie will be fun and all, but this 2130 girl would be a good test run._

* * *

 **必要とするものにもかかわらず、何もあなたの制御にある。**

 **人生は大丈夫だと私たちを教えるためにここにあります.**

 **あなたの人生がゴミであっても.**

 **\- 孔子**

 **...バイバイ**


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